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| 10-02-2003 | Previous edition: 10-01-2003 |
        
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Printer-friendly version Purdue constructs computer science building
Staff Writer Purdue, the first university to develop a computer science program, celebrated Wednesday the fact that the program will finally have its own building. Students, faculty and staff met at Elliott Hall of Music to announce that construction is now beginning and to honor those who donated money toward the project. Purdue president Martin Jischke thinks the computer science department at Purdue is crucial to the success of the University and of the world. This important field places a daily impact on every aspect of our lives and unimaginable new technologies will develop in the future. The building will be ready for use in 2006. Once the new building is complete, only two main buildings will be needed to house the computer science department, instead of the present five buildings. The building will encompass four classrooms, seven instrumental laboratories, meeting rooms, 20 offices for faculty and 120 offices for graduate students and staff. Jischke thinks it is important that Purdue have a core place for this department. "This state-of-the-art facility we're planning today will provide a truly exciting collaborative environment in the cycle of scientific discovery here at Purdue. It will give our students unparalleled learning opportunities," said Jeff Vitter, dean of the School of Science and professor of computer science. The building's additional laboratory space will provide undergraduate students with more opportunities to partake in research projects and have smaller class sizes. The most up-to-date features and equipment will be provided in order to enhance research in nanoscience, graphics and scientific visualization, bioinformatics, information security, software systems, wireless ubiquitous computing and global computer networks. The breakout rooms in the facility will provide more space, resulting in smaller classes that will be taught more often by full-time faculty and less often by teaching assistants. Freshman undergraduate students are particularly excited about the new building, being that their senior year will be primarily spent in there. "This building will provide me with more opportunities and be especially beneficial and better prepare me the year before I go out into the workforce," said Neal Gettling, freshman in the School of Science. A number of personal donations totaling $7 million funded part of the building; the other $13 million were allocated from the state of Indiana. The primary benefactor, who wishes to remain anonymous, donated $4.7 million. The secondary benefactor, Heddy Kurz, donated $2 million in honor of her deceased husband, Herman Kurz. Herman Kurz earned his degree in electrical engineering from Purdue in 1925. "Both Herman and Heddy understood that to remain great and grow stronger, Purdue needs to construct new facilities," Jischke said. Jischke named the lobby of the new building Herman F. and Heddy Heil Kurz in honor of the couple. Printer-friendly version |
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