Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, College of Arts and Sciences Building

LEO A DALY provided full architectural services for the new College of Arts and Sciences building on the Daytona Beach, Florida, campus of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (ERAU). The five-story steel frame College of Arts and Sciences houses the physics, chemistry, biology math, humanities, social sciences, and homeland security departments. The new facility features classrooms and labs using chemical fume and ventilation, chemical storage, clean-room concepts and static-free technologies.

The Astronomy and Astrophysics program is highlighted by a 1-meter diameter Ritchey-Chrétien reflecting telescope. This telescope, is the largest university-based research telescope in Florida, weighing in at around 2 tons.

Faculty and students use the 1-meter telescope to research planets, moons and asteroids in the Solar System, exoplanets, the structure and ages of stars, and nearby galaxies.

In addition to the 1-meter telescope, the Observatory houses six smaller portable telescopes mounted on the roof of the College of Arts and Sciences. These telescopes are used for student training in eyepiece observing, digital imaging and spectroscopy.