I was a Ph.D. graduate student in 1989 when the trailers were first installed and Dr. Hlavacek's group moved into them. Actually they were very open and great for a theoretical group to sit together. I have some very fond memories of installing the first Sun Workstation there and also playing hours and hours of 3D Tetris. I also held many office hours there as a TA. Though I am amazed as to what was meant to be a 2-3 year deal stayed on for 20 years. But unlike some other campuses they are at least one after 20 years.

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Actually I don't remember the trailers nor do I remember Furnas - Jarvis Halls since they didn't exist when I attended UB. Senior year (1975) I had my first classes in Bell Hall which was brand spanking new then.

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I find this email rather amusing. I went to school on Main Street in Parker Engineering. Around that building were several trailers. When we moved to Amherst in 1982 we (were) told "NO MORE TRAILERS". We would all be in a regular building as they had built the building large enough to house everyone. A few years later, the trailers started again.

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I was a mechanical engineer and graduated in 1989. We were told way back then that the trailers were only temporary...... I am so glad that you made an announcement; it brought a huge smile to my face. Our office for ASME was located in one of those things.... Glad to hear about the progress, thanks.

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They are temporary – One day in the late 80s, I was subbing in the Faculty Senate for a colleague who was out-of-town. UB President Sample came before the Senate that day looking a little shy which wasn’t normal his style. He began his presentation by saying – when he first came to UB he saw the temporary buildings on Main Street Campus and vowed never to install any such buildings while he was president here. He went on to say that the School of Engineering was experiencing space pressures and needed room that was not available in the regular building on North Campus. Therefore he gave permission to have temporary trailers installed in the space between Furnas-Jarvis and Ketter Halls. He did assure that the trailers were temporary – axles, hidden by the trailers’ skirts, were left on the trailers to facilitate removal. Twenty-some years later, we are about to see that promise kept.

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In 1994, the School received its first allocation of $ to establish its portion of the Strategic Partnership for Industrial Resurgence – a NYS/SUNY economic development program. It was decided that some of the $ would go to renovate a trailer. Trailer “F” was chosen to make it the center of industrial interactions for the School. After trailer renovations were accounted for, a debate arose over how the remaining $ should be used to support the program. Competing expenditure proposals were – install a lavatory and sink or buy a few PCs. The PCs were purchased and, as is the case with computers, are long gone. However, for the past 14 years until recently when Trailer F was closed, persons inhabiting the trailer could be seen walking quickly to an adjacent building when needed.

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I have memories of conversing with TAs in the trailers during my undergrad years in the late 1980's and early 1990's. I also remember we used to hold meetings there for one of the engineeirng clubs. As a studnet assistant for CIT I also remember installing the first data network there. Nice to see them finally going away, but on teh other hand they're a part of UB Engineering culture!

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A few years ago when the new campus-wide signage system was installed , I was both amused and horrified to see that the trailers got their own architecturally designed and custom fabricated sign. The minimal designation "Trailer Complex" was a testament of inspired existentialism, or perhaps just pure institutional absurdity. Either way, the sign was clearly stating the obvious, with little panache. The sign gave the trailers a sense of permanence which made my heart sink. This sign should be preserved as an historic artifact in a display case in the new engineering building, a reminder and warning against the next time someone has the bright idea to populate our landscape with tin cans. I'm looking forward to a smarter and prouder UB.

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I would like to remember the Trailer Complex as the first home of my IBM-sponsored Test Design Automation Lab. On May 3, 1999 at 3:30 pm, the lab (in Trailer G) consisting of an IBM RS6000 Powerserver, 4 Risc PowerPC clients and IBM's commercial TestBench software was officially opened by cutting the ribbon by Dean Mark Karwan and the IBM sponsor Frank Urban. The lab was later expanded to 2 servers and 14 workstations and moved to 210 Furnas Hall. The lab was in existence until 2004. I am sad to see that the trailers will be gone! Shambhu Upadhyaya CSE dept.

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It was back in 1992 that I last visited the trailers. I have vague memories of the trailers. However, I do remember the trailers in the South campus which houses the libraries. Good to know that UB is receiving a new building

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Wow - hadn't visited N. Campus in a while (M.S. 94)... trailers had more than doubled. Good to see the new building plans - hope the existing buildings get a facelift too...

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