An etching press, representing a cross-college collaboration between Engineering and Science and Architecture, Arts, and Humanities, was officially dedicated recently.
Machining and Technical Services (MTS), a precision machine and fabrication center serving the undergraduate and graduate schools in the College of Engineering and Science, discovered that art professor, Sydney Cross, was looking for a new etching press. Commercial models weren't large enough to meet her needs, and estimates for a custom-made press started in the $20,000 range.
In the spirit of cross-college collaboration, MTS offered to build a press to Professor Cross's specifications in exchange for additional workspace not being used by the Art Department.

Since Professor Cross was charged only for materials, the new press was designed and built for $4,330 - about a fifth of what an outside vendor would have charged. "This is what cross-college collaboration is all about," observed Clemson University President Jim Barker. "This new press gives us some very unique capabilities because of its size, but the craftsmanship MTS put into the project makes it a work of art."