The Teaching Labs at SEAS and the related machine shop in the Physics Department support the educational mission of the school by providing students with hands-on experience using state-of-the-art technologies.

The ground floor of Pierce Hall underwent at $2 million renovation during 2007-2008 to provide dedicated facilities for students to conduct CAD/CAM, mechanics, and photonics research.

The new lab is located alongside the recently built “wet lab,” created primarily to support courses in bioengineering. The wet lab—a beautiful glass and steel fishbowl—has become a haven for hands on experimentation and research.

The space also features seating, student meeting areas, and computing resources.

Anas leads the team supporting laboratory courses and partners with faculty to create a leading environment for hands-on engineering education. He is also responsible for developing new labs using the best pedagogical methods, assisting with strategic planning, and supporting SEAS's growing presence in bioengineering.

Anas received his Ph.D. from the University of Massachusetts-Amherst in biochemistry; he focused his postdoctoral research on switching mechanism between cellular survival pathway and programmed death pathway at Harvard Medical School/Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. 

Prior to BIDMC, Anas served as the Lab Senior Director of the undergraduate Chemistry Department at UMass Amherst where he directed 6 labs and supervised a large body of teaching assistants and undergraduate students. He also worked as a manager in OMO/Unilever International. At Harvard University Extension School, Anas has taught courses on nanotechnology and microfluidics. 

Physics/SEAS Instructional Instrument Lab

The Machine Shop located in the basement of Lyman Lab is set up to be primarily a teaching Shop. We have a state-of-the-art facility, complete with computerized machine tools and full arc welding capabilities.

Our shop is unique in that it is open 24 hours to those people in both the Physics Department and the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences who have either proven competency in a machine shop setting, or have taken and passed our basic machine tool operation class.

In addition to our basic class, we offer classes on advanced machine tool operation, 2 axis cnc programming, 3 axis cnc programming, soldering and brazing, as well as blue print reading and interpretation.

Because we take safety very seriously, we have set many policies for those who use our shop. After the normal working day, only Authorized Shop Users may operate the equipment in the shop. All these Authorized Users must follow our After Hours Usage Policies or lose all access to the Machine Shop. There is also a joint Safety Committee, Chaired by Lenny Solomon, which oversees all aspects of safety within the Physics Department and SEAS.