“Growing into our Space”: Dean Mason outlines UChicago PME’s future plans, impact in Spring Town Hall

New centers, new students, new buildings and new impact were the topic at Dean Nadya Mason’s Spring 2026 Town Hall at the UChicago Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering.

Since succeeding founding Dean Matthew Tirrell in 2023, Mason has held the twice-yearly Town Halls as an open dialogue connecting directly with students, postdocs, faculty and staff on topics of note for the engineering school. About 100 members of the UChicago PME community joined the Spring 2026 Town Hall, either in person or online.

Among updates on research, partnership, grants and community impact, one major theme was growth. That means both the growth UChicago PME has seen since becoming the University of Chicago’s newest school just seven years ago and its future plans to expand.

“Growth allows us to broadly impact all of our themes, to build strength in our in our theme areas, to add new themes, and to make sure that we're flexible,” Mason said. “The world today is not going to be the world in 20 years. We have to make sure that the research we're doing today is flexible enough and broad enough that we can keep moving toward solving the world’s most challenging problems.”

One major goal Mason outlined in the talk was doubling the number of faculty within 15 years. Key to that growth is expanded lab space. 

“We can't double in size without having the space – the lab space, the office space, the meeting space, the teaching classrooms – to grow into,” she said.

To help prepare for this future growth, UChicago PME earlier this month opened new lab, office and classroom space for the Institute for Materials and Sustainability in the STEM-focused Hyde Park Labs development. This space with views of Lake Michigan will house seven laboratories for UChicago PME research teams, including areas to grow into as future researchers join. The UChicago PME space will also house the Energy Transition Network, which connects fundamental research with startups and corporations, aiming to accelerate energy solutions.

Mason also updated attendees with the latest on the IonQ Center for Engineering and Science building planned for the site of the Accelerator Building on Ellis Avenue. The site will offer expanded space for the Chicago Quantum Institute and the Chicago Quantum Exchange, at least six wet labs for materials and immunoengineering, and extensive undergraduate teaching labs for all UChicago PME.

“We will have as many non-quantum labs as we have quantum labs,” Mason said. “We are really making sure that this space is home for all of our themes within engineering, as well as for future themes as they come up.”

Mason also highlighted the impact of UChicago PME-led centers including the new Berggren Center for Quantum Biology and Medicine and the STAGE (Scientists, Technologists, And Artists Generating Exploration) Center. 

Through the talk, Mason stressed that UChicago PME is an engineering school that punches above its weight class. For its size and comparative youth as an engineering school, this interdisciplinary community has brokered major advances in human health, clean water, energy solutions, quantum computing, materials designs, biological sensing, sustainability and artificial intelligence. 

“The momentum at UChicago PME is tangible, and I am truly delighted to be on this journey with all of you,” Mason said.