Editing UP College of Engineering (section)

=== Plans for New Engineering Building ===

The plans for the construction of a three-storey reinforced concrete Engineering Building were drafted starting 1927 for which P210,000 was appropriated. The design of the building was under the supervision and guidance of Dean Hyde. Criteria for earthquake resistance were incorporated in the design. It was of simple architecture with a portico at the front facing Florida Street. The contract for the construction was awarded in October 22, 1929. The building was occupied in May 1930.

On the first floor were the administrative offices of the College, the Department of Civil Engineering office, a one-bay library, a small study hall for the students and a few classrooms. On the second floor were the freshmen drafting room to the west end, the civil engineering seniors design room to the east end and classrooms. The electrical engineering laboratory occupied the third floor, the office of the electrical engineering department and two classrooms. The building had a roof garden which became the venue of the University socials, especially the annual Engineering Ball. On the roof garden was built the astronomical observatory which housed a five-inch refracting telescope used by the Astronomical Society. The building had an elevator, and a basement which was used as an air raid shelter in the first days of the war.

The number of freshmen admitted to the College was limited to only 150, starting in 1930-1931. This was in accordance with the resolution adopted by the engineering faculty. This limit was however relaxed in 1934 with the opening of the mining engineering house which drew an influx of would-be miners. There was a mining boom in the country then; and Jan Marsman, a mining magnate, donated in 1936 an assaying laboratory which was constructed in the quadrangle of the engineering shop complex.

New appointments to the faculty staff in the early thirties to replace resignations were Messrs. Maximo P. Lachica, Angel Tronqued, Antonio Albert, Juan M. Ramos, Pedro Ebalo, Jose G. Montelibano and Leopoldo Toralballa. Professor Estanislao P. Angeles was sent as a university fellow to the United States for advanced studies in mechanical engineering. Special lecturers of the College were Dr. Pablo de Jesus in sanitary engineering, Numeriano D. Carreon and Clodualdo Garcia in land laws, Dionisio Facelo in surveying accounting, Ambrosio Magsaysay in civil engineering and Hermenegildo B. Reyes in electrical engineering. The Engineering Library was transferred from a one-bay room adjacent to the office of the clerical staff to the former study hall on the first floor of the engineering building. Book shelves and a counter were constructed on the west end of the hall and a mezzanine floor. The remaining space became the library reading room.