Engineering Quad - Where Ideas Get Built

A stop on Stanford University Campus Walk, a free self-guided tour.

This modern quad, about 11.5 acres just west of the historic Main Quad, is where many of Stanford's engineers and scientists work today. Four buildings frame it: the Jerry Yang and Akiko Yamazaki Environment and Energy Building, known as Y2E2; the Spilker building for applied sciences; the Shriram Center for bioengineering and chemical engineering, finished in 2014; and the octagonal Jen-Hsun Huang Engineering Center, the headquarters of Stanford Engineering.

The Huang Center was dedicated in 2010, paid for by a $30 million gift from NVIDIA co-founder Jen-Hsun Huang, a Stanford graduate, and his wife, Lori. Notice how the planners echoed the old campus: long axes, open lawns and freestanding arcades of steel, stone and fabric that nod to the sandstone arches next door.

The twelve stone spheres scattered across the lawn are Pars pro Toto, a 2021 work by artist Alicja Kwade, ranging from 16 inches to more than 8 feet across. For the garages and labs where Silicon Valley got its start, take the companion Silicon Valley Tech Heritage tour.

Getting here: Walk southwest about 500 meters from the Rodin garden to the open lawns of the Science and Engineering Quad, west of the Main Quad.

Did you know?: Stanford's School of Engineering was founded in 1925, so it celebrated its 100th birthday in 2025.

Photo op: Line up one of the big stone spheres in the foreground with the octagonal Huang Center behind it.

More on Wikipedia: Stanford University School of Engineering · Jensen Huang · Alicja Kwade

Engineering Quad - Where Ideas Get Built

Stops on this tour