The Liberty University engineering program continues to take shape with the coming addition of a new dean and a grant to boost LU’s Center for Energy Research & Education in Bedford County, which is slated to become home to the department.
Now nicknamed CERE, the facility previously was known as the Center for Advanced Engineering and Research. LU purchased the property along U.S. 460 for $4.3 million last spring. The space will serve as the new home for the LU School of Engineering and Computational Sciences as it expands. With plans to add new facilities there, Liberty is betting big on energy.
“Energy is a focus because it’s one of the fastest-growing industry clusters in the country,” said Jonathan Whitt, Liberty’s vice president of special projects and business engagement. “If you look at the nature of that industry, it shows no signs of slowing down anytime soon.”
