The handful of students and scholars who took a leap of faith to specialize in mechanical engineering at the Missouri School of Mines and Metallurgy 100 years ago would scarcely recognize the 21st century version of their former home. 

These days, more than 1,100 undergraduate and graduate students and 40 full-time faculty call the mechanical and aerospace engineering department home, making it the largest academic unit at Missouri S&T. And in place of Mechanical Hall – and its successor, the Mechanical Engineering Annex – is Toomey Hall, a three-story, 145,000-square-foot facility that opened in 2009 as part of a $28 million construction and renovation project.