The 109K square foot building is named in honor of the Charles Lee Powell Foundation and the late San Diego Superior Court Judge James L. Focht and was made possible by the strong support and generous contributions from the Whitaker Foundation, Powell Foundation, William J. von Liebig Foundation, and many other gifts from alumni, friends and industry supporters.

With its modern facilities, the Powell-Focht Hall will enable faculty and students to apply emerging technologies to advance understanding, treatment, and prevention of human disease. Each of the four floors of the building will be dedicated to one of the Department's major focus areas: genomic bioengineering/bioinformatics, molecular biomechanics, cellular and tissue engineering, and systems bioengineering. Five core technology laboratories including nanotechnology, information technology, imaging and microscopy, biofabrication, and in vivo technology will be available to faculty, students and visiting scientists. It will also include instructional design laboratories which provide students with direct hands-on education experience.

The centerpiece of the building is the beautiful, 150-person capacity Fung Auditorium (named in honor of Professor Y.C. Fung, a founding faculty member of the UCSD Bioengineering Program) equipped with state-of-the-art electronics to enable interactive video conferencing. The fourth floor will include a library leading onto an outdoor terrace. The library is named in honor of the late Professor Benjamin Zweifach, also a founding faculty member of the department.