Wilson Student Team Project Center

Wilson Student Team Project Center. Photo courtesy: teamprojects.engin.umich.edu

A Hands-On Workshop for Engineering Project Teams

by Nick Robbins

Housing twenty-four engineering project teams and open to students twenty-four hours a day, the Wilson Student Team Project Center is always active. It allows students to experience hands-on learning in project teams’ collaborative and industry-like environments.

The Wilson Center was built in 1999 with funding from Walter E. Wilson, the center’s namesake, and doubled in size in 2010 with a donation from Vincent and Gloria Gorguze. It provides an essential space for world-renowned project teams like MRacing and Michigan Solar Car to compete and win on national and international stages (“About the Center”). The 10-million dollar, 20,000-square-foot center, located on North Campus behind the François-Xavier Bagnoud Building, is a “facility for design, assembly, machining, electronics, and painting” (“About the Center”). Most project teams have a designated area in the Wilson Center to store tools and parts and manufacture their projects throughout the year. Furthermore, the machine shop (housing manual and CNC mills and lathes, a tool room, and a welding room) is shared by all project teams, along with students manufacturing items for classes.

Students working in the Wilson Center's machine shop (2018) by Yilin Yang. Photo courtesy: admissions.umich.edu.

In order to start working with machines and with project teams in the shop, students must complete Basic I and Basic II training (i.e., Basic I is an online canvas course, and Basic II involves manufacturing a part to teach students how to use multiple machines in the shop properly). There is also mill and lathe training for more complex part manufacturing (i.e., mill: machine where the part is held steady in a vice and the cutting tool rotates; lathe: a machine where the part spins and the cutting tool is held steady).

Students displaying their finished project inside the Wilson Center (2020). Photo courtesy: @UMWilsonCenter's Twitter

Engineering project teams at the University of Michigan allow students to work with their peers in a collaborative and industry-like environment, and the Wilson Center provides the space and resources for these project teams to develop and build their projects to excel in competition. Prior to the Wilson Center, project teams had no central workspace, and their manufacturing resources were limited, according to a 1999 article in The Michigan Daily. Jonathan Paul, an engineering senior in 1999 who managed the Baja Racing Team, said, “Before the center existed, we worked on our project cramped in an autolab and had to use old tools” (Danish). With the addition of the Wilson Center, project teams had a place to store all their tools and equipment, along with the added benefit of dedicated machines for advanced manufacturing.

Walter Edward Wilson was an engineering student at the University of Michigan who graduated with a BSE degree in Mechanical Engineering in 1933. Wilson was born on June 12, 1912, and died on June 1, 1996, in Detroit, Michigan. At U of M, Wilson was a Phi Delta Theta Fraternity member and a Big Ten wrestling champion under coach Cliff Keen, according to an "In Memoriam" memo released by the Murray & Associates accounting firm. The obituary says he was a "Big Ten wresting champion under Coach Cliff Keen, and throughout the years continued to support the U of M wresting program through the Cliff Keen Wresting Club" ("In Memoriam"). Wilson was also an accomplished rower and, in 1935, was "an international rowing champion at the Detroit Boat Club," where he was a Life Member ("In Memoriam"). In his post-college years, Wilson helped design submarines and torpedoes at the New London, Connecticut Navy Yard while serving as a Lieutenant j.g. in the U.S. Navy during WWII ("In Memoriam"). Post-war, he served in the U.S. Naval Reserve and was a self-employed chemical distributor, retiring in 1986 (“In Memoriam”).

"A plaque is displayed of Walter E. Wilson at the Wilson Student Team Project Center on Michigan's North Campus" (2023) by Jenna Hickey. Photo courtesy: michigandaily.com.

The last name Wilson means “son of Will;” Will coming from the name William, which in turn comes from the ancient German name Willihelm, meaning having a desire to protect, according to Ancestry.com. According to a Wilson family genealogy website, “the surname Wilson has roots in Ireland, Scotland, and England, and before that some lines extend back into Normandy and Denmark.” Walter is “Germanic in origin and means ‘commander of the army’” (Vanbuskirk). This is fitting, as, in a way, the Wilson Center is the "commander of the army” of engineering project teams at the University of Michigan.

The Wilson Center is a live exhibit of Michigan Engineering that allows students to learn and experience engineering in an industry-like environment. Along with hands-on learning, the Wilson Center is a community of passionate students eager to work toward making their project team successful. These students are building relationships and industry expertise while upholding the University of Michigan’s legacy of excellence.

Works Cited

“About the Center.” Wilson Student Team Project Center - University of Michigan, https://teamprojects.engin.umich.edu/home/about/.

Danish, Sana. “September 10, 1999 (Vol. 109, Iss. 139) - Image 5.” Michigan Daily Digital Archives, https://digital.bentley.umich.edu/midaily/mdp.39015071755032/673.

Hickey, Jenna. “A plaque is displayed of Walter E. Wilson at the Wilson Student Project Center on Michigan’s North Campus.” The Michigan Daily, 6 Mar. 2023. https://www.michigandaily.com/opinion/wilson-center-a-match-made-on-north-rossholes-and-nerds/.

“In Memoriam.” Memo to the University of Michigan Engineering Media Department from Murray & Associates accountanting firm, from Wilson Center's documents files, 31 Oct. 2000.

Vanbuskirk, Sarah. “What Does the Name Walter Mean?” Verywell Family, 3 Aug. 2021, https://www.verywellfamily.com/walter-name-meaning-5191552.

“Wilson Family History.” Wilson Name Meaning & Wilson Family History at Ancestry.com®, https://www.ancestry.com/name-origin?surname=wilson.

Wilson, Wendell E. “Ancient Origins of the Wilson Families.” Wilson Family History. https://mineralogicalrecord.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/wilson/pdfs/02.%20Ancient%20Origins%20of%20Wilson-Revised.pdf

Yang, Yilin. “Working in the ‘real world’: inside the Wilson Student Team Project Center.” Undergraduate Admissions - University of Michigan, 4 Dec. 2018. https://admissions.umich.edu/explore-visit/blog/working-real-world-inside-wilson-student-team-project-center

Photo of students displaying their finished project inside the Wilson Center. Wilson Student Team Project Center (@UMWilsonCenter) Twitter, 16 Sept. 2020. https://twitter.com/UMWilsonCenter/status/1306363451002949632/photo/2.

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