North Central College Unveils Health Sciences, Engineering Center

NAPERVILLE, IL — North Central College dedicated a new center for health sciences and engineering last week after a $10 million donation was made by a 1963 graduate who now wants to ensure that current students have the best tools at their disposal to prepare for their future.

The center, which bears the name of Dr. Myron Wentz, will provide North Central students with a training facility that includes the latest technology. Wentz made the sizable donation in support of the inspired instruction that will take place at the health sciences and engineering, the school said.

School officials said at last week’s dedication ceremony that the facility will facilitate best practices in medical education and leading-edge technology. The center was built with the school’s mission in mind, school officials said. The total cost of the 40,000 square-foot building was $20 million, according to a university spokesperson.

Students studying STEM research and other disciplines within the medical profession “will be positioned to exceed their personal best” while engaging in opportunities” housed within the facility,” Stephen Maynard Caliendo, the school’s dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, said last week.

The facility includes cutting-edge technology to prepare students including:

• A skills lab with three-dimensional anatomage tables that serve as virtual cadavers and allow students to perform traditional dissections using the virtual images of four patients.
• Handheld Clarius Ultrasound devices that connect via Bluetooth to personal cell phones and iPads and increase timely access to critical care. Only a few medical schools across the country use this technology, placing North Central College at the forefront of health science education.
• Simulation rooms, including a hospital room, labor and delivery room, trauma room and a patient exam room. Instructors can observe students from behind one-way mirrors and use computer controls to alter the condition and response of high- and low-fidelity mannequins that serve as patients.
• The Manufacturing Process Lab for the College’s engineering programs, where students have access to high-precision lasers that can cut metal and non-metals, a 3D printer with a 4-foot by 8-foot build surface, two computerized numerical control milling machines, a CNC lathe, and a 3-ton bridge crane.

North Central President Troy D. Hammond said that the new Wentz Center will be a place that students can rely on to put them on the front lines of receiving the training they need to succeed in their chosen field of medicine.

“We knew this building had to include today’s best technology and stand ready for tomorrow’s brightest innovations,” Hammond said. “It had to foster the best kinds of collaboration among students and faculty, and it had to give students everything they need to succeed in a complex and evolving career field in health sciences and engineering.”