A new space inside the Robert W. Plaster Free Enterprise and Research Center will honor Donald R. Smith, Ph.D., who helped the University of Missouri-Kansas City earn accreditation for its engineering program. Smith passed away in June 2024.

In June 1975, Smith was appointed director of the coordinated engineering programs at UMKC. At the time, UMKC did not have its own engineering program, and Smith was tasked with developing one through a collaboration with the University of Missouri in Columbia.

Under his leadership, he grew the program from fewer than 100 students to 400 undergraduate and graduate students during his 22-year tenure. Today, the UMKC School of Science and Engineering enrolls 3,500 students, including nearly 1,000 students in a fully accredited engineering program.

To honor Smith’s legacy and celebrate the growth and impact of the engineering program at the school, a space will be renovated in the Plaster Center to foster student research and learning, collaborative problem solving and project fabrication.

The Donald R. Smith Student Fabrication Lab will house a variety of 3D printers, workstations and equipment to support the printing, fabrication and assembly of student projects. With this investment from Smith’s daughter, Dr. Susan Smith Porter, and her husband, Dr. Charles Porter, honoring Smith’s appreciation for students and love of engineering, UMKC students will have access to safe and reliable fabrication equipment, housed in a single lab, for students to channel their creativity to design, fabricate and prototype for years to come.