MTSU’s new $74.8 million Applied Engineering Building helps students prepare for a constantly changing technical world. Philanthropy helped lay the foundation for it.

Article by Brian Delaney and MTSU photos by Andy Heidt and J. Intintoli

Explosive growth in programs, especially Mechatronics Engineering, was central to the University’s decision to build a $74.8 million, 89,000-square-foot Applied Engineering Building (AEB).

The AEB opened in August 2025 on the southeast side of campus, next to the School of Concrete and Construction Management Building, a $40.1 million, 54,000-square-foot facility completed in fall 2022.

“This is another state-of-the-art facility that puts the finishing touches on our Science Corridor of Innovation,” said MTSU President Sidney A. McPhee. The corridor includes the MTSU Science Building, which opened in 2014, and the renovated preexisting science facilities on campus.

“We are committed to providing our students with the latest, cutting-edge technology and resources to ensure they’re well prepared for the in-demand jobs this facility will train them to do.”

Features in the new building include a Makerspace area, new robotics equipment, and industry-inspired automation and fabrication labs.

Private donations from two families, in particular— the McDonalds and the Goulds—helped transform this high-tech dream into reality. Their legacy is now shaping the next generation of engineering leaders.

For students like Max Brooks, a Mechatronics Engineering major, the donor support for the Engineering Technology Department makes MTSU stand out.

“Whether it’s the welcoming atrium provided by the McDonalds or the advanced laboratory provided by Dr. Gould’s family, I feel the same glimmers of energy I did as a freshman, where the department truly wants me to succeed,” he said.

A Lifetime of Service, A Lasting Legacy

From a Rutherford County farm in the Blackman community to MTSU and beyond, Donald McDonald has built his life on education and hard work.

Now, he and his wife, Frances, are ensuring future generations of students can do the same.

Most recently, the couple made a major gift to the new AEB. Its central gathering space now bears their names: the Donald and Frances McDonald Atrium.

With his roots in the engineering program, Donald was drawn to the facility’s potential.

The McDonalds, who celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary in 2025, have a long history of giving back. In 2004, they created an endowed scholarship for students in Engineering Technology and Aerospace.

Donald’s own story, as a “farm boy” with limited options to afford college, shaped that decision.

“We decided to help students like myself, that didn’t have a lot of funds to start with,” he said.

Donald’s deep affinity for MTSU also stems from the faculty who supported him during his formative years as a student.

“The best thing was the mentorship that the instructors gave,” he said. “All four years, they were mentors in each of their fields. I can name every one of them. And they tried to help you learn what you needed after you got out of school. And these guys were personable. They were really nice to me, and I’ll always remember that.”

Donald’s path to graduation wasn’t straightforward—he had to pause his education in the late 1950s due to finances. He made a strategic pivot to join the U.S. Navy’s flight school to pursue his interest in aviation, then returned to MTSU to complete his degree in 1963. He went on to a long career at Middle Tennessee Electric Membership Corporation, retiring as director of operations in 1999.

Donald and Frances deepened their support of Aerospace with a gift to create the McDonald Aerospace Maintenance Laboratory in 2018. Donald also served on the MTSU Foundation board for six years, continues to serve on the Aerospace advisory board, and was celebrated in 2014 with the Alumni Association’s David Cullum Award for Service to the University.

Although Frances did not attend MTSU, she has always been a steady partner in their shared vision. “I’m just always supporting Don in these decisions,” she said. She also built her own career, working more than 30 years in accounting for engineering firms in Nashville.

“We felt for a lot of kids that we saw with potential,” Donald said. “With the right training, you could make a great career. And that’s what we decided would be the best type of [scholarship recipient].”

Today, the McDonalds’ generosity continues to open doors for students like Aidan Martin, a Mechatronics Engineering major and department scholarship recipient.

“The McDonalds’ philanthropy has helped me go through university without worrying about the money involved,” Martin said.

Based in the Smart Sensing and Robotics Lab, Martin helped design a six-wheeled autonomous robot for agriculture.

“MTSU is going to be a superpower in middle Tennessee,” said Martin, who anticipates graduating in 2027. “This new frontier for AI and automation can now be accessed by students here.”

A Vision for Mechatronics and Beyond

The Gould family’s support for MTSU Engineering Technology began with the creation in 2018 of the Dr. Richard Gould Mechatronics and Robotics Laboratory, now a second-floor showpiece of the new AEB.

Named in honor of the late Richard H. Gould, a U.S. Navy officer, General Electric engineer, and longtime chair of the University’s former Industrial Studies Department, the lab was made possible through the generosity and vision of his wife, Jean, who wanted to honor her husband’s legacy.

At the AEB ribbon-cutting, Gould’s sons, Jimmy and Jeff, were inspired to build on that legacy. Energized by the new facility and its potential, they decided to make a substantial new gift from their family that will provide enduring support for the Mechatronics program as a whole. Support that ensures that students continue to benefit from the kind of opportunities their father envisioned.

“The lab by itself was impressive, but the building is fantastic,” Jimmy said. “The lab is in a great home, and I hope a lot of students are able to take good engineering fundamentals and discover real and creative mechatronic applications.”

As chair from 1979 to 1995, Gould laid the groundwork for what became MTSU’s acclaimed Mechatronics Engineering program. Gould pushed the program “to expand its reach and embrace mechatronics before so many better-known institutions,” Jimmy said. The legacy of those efforts lives on in the new lab, thanks to the Goulds’ generous vision.

The Goulds’ connection to the University is deeply personal. As children, Jimmy and Jeff spent a lot of time in the Industrial Studies offices and classrooms where their father spent nearly three decades shaping the future of engineering education.

“It was my mother’s generosity and her belief in my father’s legacy that helped make the mechatronics lab a reality,” Jimmy said. “Jeff and I are proud of her for recognizing what our dad would have liked and the impact a seed investment could accomplish.”

At the 2018 dedication of the lab’s original location in the Davis Science Building, Jean Gould said she had learned that mechatronics graduates can enter the workforce with knowledge and skills that benefit both themselves and the world around them. “I knew my husband would have wholeheartedly supported this project,” she said.

Jeff remarked that his father “would be very happy about MTSU’s continuing commitment to educating students with a successful career in mind. We don’t have that in every university in America today, so I applaud MTSU for that.”

A Launchpad for Opportunity

One such student is Manav Patel, a Mechatronics Engineering student originally from Kenya who graduated in December.

“Not many universities offered a program like this, and MTSU was one of the most affordable options for me,” Patel said.

Patel’s first semester studying in the new building included using the newly enhanced Gould Mechatronics Lab for a course in programmable logic controllers (PLCs), which are the same equipment used in factories.

Patel emphasized how much it means to students when alumni and supporters invest in facilities like the AEB.

“It makes us feel good. It shows that somebody out there has a lot of faith in the University,” Patel said. “When alumni come back and donate . . . it shows they’ve been able to use their degree to get to a spot in the world where they can give back to the University.”

Such investment shows the value of attending MTSU, Patel said. Indeed, the generosity of families like the McDonalds and the Goulds has created an impact that will serve students for decades to come.

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