On Wednesday, the University of Florida announced plans to help advance the field of Industrialized Construction Engineering with $2.5 million in strategic funding.

According to a UF press release, the Herbert Wertheim College of Engineering and UF’s College of Design, Construction and Planning will seek to revolutionize how the world designs, conceptualizes and builds resilient and affordable buildings and civil infrastructure.

“The construction and engineering industries are rapidly changing with advances in technology, and we need to adapt and evolve to keep up with that pace,” said UF President Ben Sasse in the press release. “The Industrialized Construction Engineering (ICE) project will help UF’s experts use tools like artificial intelligence (AI) and robotic automation to transform the way we design and build.” 

Monies for the UF & Sports Collaborative will come from the $130 million in new funding that the Florida Legislature gave UF this year.

Sasse established that half of the funds would be directed to units for special strategic purposes. To date, the first round of 19 proposals received $13.4 million in funding on Oct. 3,  seven proposals were awarded $5.4 million on Nov. 13 and a third round of proposals were awarded $11 million on Dec. 4. UF received more than 250 submissions with 40 proposals selected. Each proposal is aimed at enhancing the student experience and advancing interdisciplinary scholarship.

On Jan. 5, UF announced that it is embarking on a five-part, $2.5 million strategic sports initiative project that will be known as the UF & Sport Collaborative.

Then on Jan. 8, UF committed $2.5 million to create a hub for researchers from different departments to collaborate on space-related projects.