I have had the pleasure of visiting a number of colleges and universities during my career and been in a number of labs.  It’s really amazing the differences in the labs I’ve been to.   Many of them are improperly equipped and poorly designed, making both learning and teaching difficult.  I am able to tell when laboratory design professionals have been used and when they haven’t within minutes of walking into a lab.  I can’t really understand that so little thought goes into planning a facility that’s filled with such expensive equipment.  This is one area that institutions shouldn’t scrimp on.