Statler College unveils two labs to increase experiential and collaborative learning opportunities for students

The Morey Energy Systems Lab and LCSEE Learning and Collaboration Space 

The Benjamin M. Statler College of Engineering and Mineral Resources recently announced the addition and dedication of two labs in the Advanced Engineering Research Building and Engineering Research Building, both on the Evansdale Campus at West Virginia University, that will benefit engineering and computer science students.  

Story by Brittany Furbee, Communications Specialist
Photos by Paige Nesbit, Director of Marketing

Benjamin M. Statler College of Engineering and Mineral Resources

The Morey Energy Systems Lab was created and named in honor of Karl G. Morey, an electrical engineering alumnus of the Statler College. After graduating from the Statler College, Morey had a successful engineering career, working at the Patuxent Naval Air Station in Maryland and with 3M in Minneapolis, Minnesota, where he was responsible for developing spy satellites for the military.  

After retiring in 2004, Morey successfully invested his money in the stock market. When it came time to write his will and to determine how he wanted his money to be used in the future, he decided to donate to WVU as he remembered his education as part of the best time of his life. 

Thanks to his generosity, the Morey Energy Systems Lab will provide state-of-the-art hands-on opportunities for students to learn electrical energy and renewable energy integration into the smart grid. The lab is equipped with the latest and most sophisticated technology and resources, including energy conversion equipment, smart grid energy management systems, smart grid control and communication, renewable energy sources such as solar panels and wind turbines, and energy storage systems. The Morey Energy Systems Laboratory will help produce the skilled workforce needed to manage the integration of energy resources and renewable generators into the smart power grid. 

The LCSEE Learning and Collaboration Space was created and named in recognition of Cindy Tanner, a Statler College alumnus and dedicated lecturer at WVU for more than 40 years.  

Throughout her tenure at WVU, Tanner has earned many accolades. She was the author of more than 17 publications, technical papers and presentations and the recipient of 12 grants. She also received the Teacher of the Year Award from the computer science and electrical engineering department in 1999, the Golden Apple Award for outstanding teaching in 2001, the CEMR Outstanding Advisor Award in 2007 and the Nick Evans Faculty Advising Excellence Award in 2012.  

Today, she still teaches various undergraduate computer science and software engineering courses at the Statler College and serves as the College’s computer science undergraduate program coordinator. 

The LCSEE Learning and Collaboration Space is a reconfigurable, multi-purpose room that serves as a learning center for computer science and electrical engineering tutoring, a collaborative space to prepare for cybersecurity competitions and computer science classes with hands-on lab and collaborative activities. 

Both labs were dedicated during a ribbon cutting ceremony at the Statler College on April 25. The Morey Energy Systems Lab has been open to students during the for several years. Right away, students were seeing benefits from the addition of the new collaboration spaces on campus.  

“Utilizing the Morey Energy Systems Lab helped me prepare for my future career because it helped me with team building and working with a complicated system,” said Gavin Farley, a senior electrical engineering student. “When studying electrical engineering, we learn a lot of theories, but in the Morey Energy Systems Lab, we are able to actually put those to use and see the power flowing from source to load.”  

Farley recently attended WVU’s STEM Career and Internship Fair and spoke with employers about the projects he was able to work on in the Morey Energy Systems Lab. According to Farley, the employers were very excited to hear that Statler College students were gaining real world experience by working with grid technologies like solar panels, wind turbines and distribution systems in the new lab.  

Senior electrical engineering student, Bailey Lancaster was able to utilize the Morey Energy Systems Lab for her senior capstone project.  

“We used the Morey Energy Systems Lab for capstones where basically our goal was to connect these five specialty boards into a micro grid that will simulate an entire power grid on itself,” said Lancaster. “Microgrids are really the future of power systems in general and getting to work in the lab to simulate that allowed us to finally take all these concepts we've learned from class and start implementing them into real projects.”  

The LCSEE Learning and Collaboration Space will open to students during the fall 2023 semester, giving Statler College students even more opportunities for hands-on learning and collaborative activities in the fields of computer science and cybersecurity.  

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