MSOE breaks ground on new $34M academic facility

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MSOE’s Diercks Hall will house its new bachelor’s degree program in computer science.

The MSOE community, elected officials, and business representatives celebrated the groundbreaking for the university’s new Dwight and Dian Diercks Computational Science Hall. The $34 million facility has been funded by a donation from MSOE Regent and alumnus Dr. Dwight Diercks and his wife, Dian.

“MSOE will set the standard for preparing leaders to solve the diverse technical challenges of the 21st century,” said Dr. John Walz, MSOE president. “There is no doubt that this facility, along with the educational program and partnerships that result from it, will put us well on the way to reaching that vision.”

The gift marks a bold step forward for the university. With the addition of Diercks Hall and its new Bachelor of Science in Computer Science program, MSOE will be positioned at the educational forefront in artificial intelligence (AI), deep learning, cyber security, robotics, cloud computing, and other next-generation technologies. MSOE will be a national educational leader in this transformative technology space and will apply AI to deepen and enhance the current disciplines of study at the university: engineering, business, and nursing.

“This new facility is not only an investment into MSOE, it is an investment in our state’s future that will help develop our workforce while opening new doors for businesses throughout Wisconsin and the Midwest,” said Governor Scott Walker.

Diercks Hall will be a 64,000-squarefoot facility in the heart of MSOE’s campus. Major features include a state of the art datacenter with an NVIDIA GPU-powered supercomputer, and space for corporate and academic partnerships. Students, faculty, staff, and businesses are invited to collaborate with MSOE to benefit from this tremendous asset to the region.

Dr. Diercks earned his bachelor’s degree in computer science and engineering at MSOE in 1990. He also holds an Honorary Doctor of Engineering degree from the university. Today, he serves as senior vice president at NVIDIA, a California-based technology company and global leader in AI, supercomputing, and visual computing.