Concise Encyclopedia of Tufts History
Sauer, Anne
Branco, Jessica
Bennett, John
Crowley, Zachary
2000
Bray Memorial Laboratory of Mechanical Engineering, 1947
The Bray Memorial Laboratory of Mechanical Engineering was constructed in 1947 to provide a new home for the Department of Mechanical Engineering. It is named for Dr. Charles Durlin Bray, who served as Professor of Civil and Mechanical Engineering from 1869 to 1908, and was the first professor to have mechanical engineering in his title. Built at a time when wartime materials restrictions still made new construction difficult, it was decided to use bricks salvaged from the Reservoir when it was drained to face the new building. | |
The Bray Laboratory provided a laboratory, classrooms, and equipment storage for the Department of Mechanical Engineering. It served as a Navy test laboratory for many years. A balcony around the main laboratory space was used to exhibit historical industrial equipment. | |
As of 1999, the Bray Laboratory continues to serve as the central laboratory facility for the Department of Mechanical Engineering. It is the site of the Acoustics and Vibrations Laboratory, the Burstein Family Prototyping Facility, the Design Project Assembly Area, the Machine Shop, the Materials Testing Laboratory, the Mechatronics Laboratory, the Robotics and Controls Laboratory, the Thermal Analysis of Materials Processing Laboratory (TAMPL), the Thermal-Fluid Dynamics and Processes Laboratory, the Thermal Manufacturing Automation Laboratory, and the Undergraduate Teaching Laboratory. | |
Source: BG3; LOH1, 651-52; RNTB3 | |
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