WVU Staff Council, in collaboration with WVU Talent and Culture, is highlighting the "Hidden Gems" available to University faculty and staff. This series showcases unique opportunities and activities that employees—and often their families—can enjoy. While some well-known perks are part of the WVU Perks program, "Hidden Gems" uncovers lesser-known University benefits.
Check back for a new "Hidden Gem" and discover more ways to enhance your WVU experience!
November 2025: Lane Innovation Hub
The Lane Innovation Hub is the University’s premier manufacturing facility, dedicated to transforming the designs of students, faculty, staff, entrepreneurs and the community into reality.The facility is located in the west wing ground floor of the Engineering Sciences Building on the Evansdale area of campus, spanning 10,000 square feet. Since opening in November 2021, the Hub has served clients from every WVU college and school, as well as Facilities Management, WVU Libraries, athletics, dining and more.
The Hub offers the following two resources:
Maker Space
The Maker Space offers access to a wide variety of fabrication, manufacturing and electronics prototyping equipment. Additionally, all maker space equipment and training expenses are covered by the Statler College of Engineering and Mineral Resources dean’s office.
Equipment includes 3D printing, large format laser cutting/engraving, CNC routing, PCB fabrication, CNC plasma cutting, welding and much more. Faculty and staff can get started by visiting either the Rapid Prototyping Lab in Room G85 or the Electronics Prototyping Lab in Room G75E to register a maker space account and schedule training.
Service Center
The Service Center is a fully staffed custom manufacturing facility focused on fabricating prototypes, parts and projects designed by faculty, staff, students, entrepreneurs and companies from around West Virginia. Primarily housed in the Advanced Manufacturing Lab in Room G86, all services are available at-cost.The Service Center has manufactured over 2600 designs, spanning everything from highly technical research and entrepreneurial prototypes to student competition teams, creative arts, trophies, awards and infrastructure pieces for WVU Facilities.
To submit a manufacturing request, you must first activate your WVU iLab account.
