Spring Break
Engineering, art come together for garden
Kerry Solan
Issue date: 6/9/09 Section: NEWS
The Garden of Honor, dedicated today at UNT's Discovery Park, is similar to the Trans-Siberian Railroad for one engineer.
"I believe, like the head engineer of the Trans-Siberian Railroad did, that the most important thing is that it exists," said Mitty Plummer, nuclear engineering coordinator and engineering technology professor.
The Garden of Honor has no flowers. Instead, it contains four 6-foot-tall monuments strategically placed along the walkway to the research park's student entrance. Each monument is topped by a sculpture with a symbol representing an honor society at Discovery Park, and also bears the name of the society: Tau Alpha Pi, Honor Society for Engineering Technology; Bet Phi Mu, Honor Society for Library Science; Alpha Sigma Mu, Honor Society for Materials Science and Engineering and Sigma Xi, the Research Society.
"It's a tradition on any campus with research and technology departments to have monuments for the honor societies," Plummer said. "In this case, we're all in one building, and so we have the Garden of Honor."
The garden started out as an idea several years ago, Plummer said.
A year ago, the departments submitted a proposal for Wells Fargo funds and was granted $8,000. Construction of the four obelisks took nine months and was a collaboration between the College of Engineering and the College of Visual Arts and Design.
"The garden recognizes high achievement and showed cooperation across campus," President Gretchen Bataille said at the dedication attended by more than 40 faculty and students, including representatives of each honor society.
Jeff McClung, an art technician, said his department helped with casting the art pieces, which were designed by students from the engineering department. His department provided a foundry to melt and pour metal into molds and ceramic shell material to create the sculptures on the top of each monument.
"It was interesting to see art from an engineering perspective," McClung said.
Plummer said he was proud of the garden.
"Here I was, an engineer trying to do art stuff," he said.
"I believe, like the head engineer of the Trans-Siberian Railroad did, that the most important thing is that it exists," said Mitty Plummer, nuclear engineering coordinator and engineering technology professor.
The Garden of Honor has no flowers. Instead, it contains four 6-foot-tall monuments strategically placed along the walkway to the research park's student entrance. Each monument is topped by a sculpture with a symbol representing an honor society at Discovery Park, and also bears the name of the society: Tau Alpha Pi, Honor Society for Engineering Technology; Bet Phi Mu, Honor Society for Library Science; Alpha Sigma Mu, Honor Society for Materials Science and Engineering and Sigma Xi, the Research Society.
"It's a tradition on any campus with research and technology departments to have monuments for the honor societies," Plummer said. "In this case, we're all in one building, and so we have the Garden of Honor."
The garden started out as an idea several years ago, Plummer said.
A year ago, the departments submitted a proposal for Wells Fargo funds and was granted $8,000. Construction of the four obelisks took nine months and was a collaboration between the College of Engineering and the College of Visual Arts and Design.
"The garden recognizes high achievement and showed cooperation across campus," President Gretchen Bataille said at the dedication attended by more than 40 faculty and students, including representatives of each honor society.
Jeff McClung, an art technician, said his department helped with casting the art pieces, which were designed by students from the engineering department. His department provided a foundry to melt and pour metal into molds and ceramic shell material to create the sculptures on the top of each monument.
"It was interesting to see art from an engineering perspective," McClung said.
Plummer said he was proud of the garden.
"Here I was, an engineer trying to do art stuff," he said.
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