SOAR takes flight

From solar-powered cars to Kármán-crossing rockets, the projects that Berkeley Engineering students build today are bigger, more complex and more ambitious than ever.

To provide students with critical hands-on experience, Berkeley Engineering has launched the Student Organization Applied Research (SOAR) labs at the heart of Richmond Field Station, just 15 minutes from campus. Years in the making, the initiative has transformed student workspaces, expanding access to high-end technology and equipment that improves both efficiency and safety.

SOAR is the first large-scale fabrication facility for student organizations at UC Berkeley. With a $3 million investment by Berkeley Engineering, organizations and teams representing more than 700 students are now able to work with dedicated staff in an ecosystem that includes more than 40 world-class research units and more than 20 startup companies.

“These are activities that we’ve long strived to support here at the Richmond Field Station,” said dean designate Mark Asta. “This is a story of the Berkeley community coming together to support our students, and it is one of the proudest experiences I have been part of at Cal.”

At an event celebrating the launch, people were able to tour the new hub, with signs demarcating zones for everything from “Motor Dyno Testing” and “Welding and Metal Fabrication” to “CNC/Machining.” Among SOAR’s many upgrades: a downdraft table that sucks in dust, a composite curing oven to bake car molds, and a dynamometer for testing engines.

In terms of “immersive learning,” Chancellor Rich Lyons said, “It doesn’t get a lot more vivid than what happens here.”

Learn more: SOAR labs have liftoff at Richmond Field Station