Houston: The University of Texas, Arlington, has named its $ 21 million residence hall after India-born astronaut Kalpana Chawla, who earned her master's degree there in aerospace engineering in 1984.

The three-story building houses 421 students and was specially designed for a programme that will encourage students to study together.

Kalpana Chawla Hall features the Mavericks Scholars Programme, which is designed to develop a community between students in a particular major, discipline, or common interest through course work, activities, study groups and peer and faculty mentorship.

The programme is designed to develop a community between students in a particular major, discipline or common interest through course work, activities, study groups and peer and faculty mentors.

"Students are grouped by major or discipline and will have a peer counsellor living with them", said Dawn Remmers, student success programmes director. The new residence hall will have computer labs, laundry rooms and study lounges on each floor with comfortable chairs and restaurant-style booths. The building is approximately 138,000 square feet with a 430-bed capacity.

More than 25,000 students are expected to enrol at UT-Arlington this fall, continuing 16 consecutive semesters of enrolment growth. The construction of Kalpana Chawla Hall boosts the number of students living on campus to about 5,000. Many more live at privately owned apartments nearby.

Chawla was one of the seven crew members aboard the space shuttle Columbia which disintegrated midair in February last year.