The Ģ����Ƶ took an ambitious step today to assert its leadership in computer science education, research and entrepreneurial innovation with the establishment of the Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering. The Board of Regents voted Thursday to name the school after Allen — the internationally renowned entrepreneur, philanthropist and computing pioneer — in recognition of his longstanding support for the mission of the University and CSE. A $50 million endowment for the new school will propel the Ģ����Ƶ to the forefront of computer science education and innovation for generations to come.

“There’s probably no institution that has had a greater influence on me than the Ģ����Ƶ. I spent hour after hour in the University library devouring everything I could on the latest advances in computer science. And it was access to Ģ����Ƶ computers as a high school student that served as a springboard for the eventual launch of Microsoft,” Allen said. “So it is a great honor to have the school of computer science and engineering named after me. We are entering a new golden age of innovation in computer science, and Ģ����Ƶ students and faculty will be at its leading edge. My hope is that the school will have the same influence on them as it did on me — that they will continue to dream big, breaking through technological barriers and using their skills to solve some of the biggest problems our world faces.”

The move to elevate CSE from a department to a school signifies its growing size, stature and impact, and acknowledges the increasing importance of computer science in the modern university and in the modern world. By naming the school after Allen, the Ģ����Ƶ is linking in perpetuity its top-tier computer science program with a visionary renowned for game-changing innovation.

“We have a deep commitment to both access and excellence. We want our doors to be open to the full range of visionaries, and we want to help them become the best in their fields so that they can have a positive impact on our world,” Ģ����Ƶ President Ana Mari Cauce said. “We’re truly fortunate to have such a generous supporter in Paul Allen, who not only shares our commitment to fostering broad-based excellence, but who has demonstrated it throughout his career. We’re honored to name our new School of Computer Science & Engineering for such a forward-thinking, steadfast supporter of our University and our region.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_aNyn-13XE4&feature=youtu.be

The creation of the school is also a tribute to Allen’s vision of the role that science should play in society, by coupling technological innovation with the quest for solutions to humankind’s greatest challenges. This vision led him to establish the Allen Institutes for Artificial Intelligence, Brain Science and Cell Science. These leading-edge research institutes have opened new frontiers of discovery and new collaborations with Ģ����Ƶ faculty and students.

The $50 million endowment for the school comes in the form of $40 million from Allen, enhanced by a gift of $10 million from Microsoft Corporation in Allen’s honor.

“When Paul Allen and Bill Gates founded Microsoft in 1975 with a vision of a computer on every desk and in every home, they ignited what would become the modern-day software industry. While much has changed in the past 40 years, one ideal endures: computer science education is a gateway to progress, innovation and opportunity. We are delighted to honor Paul’s tremendous impact on our company, and his continuing support for computer science will have a lasting impact on generations to come,” said Brad Smith, president of Microsoft.

With his latest gift, Allen attains the rank of Regental Laureate, an honor reserved for those whose lifetime giving to the Ģ����Ƶ totals $100 million or more.

Allen has a longstanding connection to and affinity for Ģ����Ƶ CSE. As a student at Seattle’s Lakeside School in the late 1960s, Allen would visit the Ģ����Ƶ campus to access the leading-edge computers of the day. Just over three decades later, in 2003, doors would open to the state-of-the-art Paul G. Allen Center for Computer Science & Engineering at the heart of the Ģ����Ƶ campus, which catalyzed Ģ����Ƶ CSE’s growth into one of the top computer-science programs in the nation. CSE has risen to prominence by generating innovations with global impact and by advancing leading-edge research in emerging areas of the field:

Mobile health: Ģ����Ƶ researchers are leveraging increasingly sophisticated sensors in smartphones to diagnose and manage disease in ways that will improve the quality of life for people around the world.

Neural engineering: Ģ����Ƶ is at the forefront of groundbreaking research at the intersection of computing and neuroscience — developing novel brain-computer interfaces that could enable people suffering from paralysis to move again.

Artificial intelligence: Ģ����Ƶ has developed formidable expertise in one of the most exciting and dynamic areas of the field, spanning artificial intelligence, computer vision, machine learning, natural language processing and robotics. Several Ģ����Ƶ researchers split their time with other leading AI organizations, including the Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence.

Next-generation data storage: Ģ����Ƶ and Microsoft Research have launched an ambitious project to revolutionize data storage based on DNA. Last year the team set a world record for the amount of digital data encoded and retrieved using strands of synthetic DNA.

Data science: Ģ����Ƶ is a leader in the data science revolution, advancing the tools and techniques of data-intensive discovery and putting them to work in the physical sciences, life sciences, environmental sciences and social sciences.

As the Allen School, Ģ����Ƶ CSE will have the flexibility and resources to build on these successes and compete at the highest level for faculty, students and new investments in research — aggressively pursuing new opportunities to accelerate discovery and real-world impact. The school will provide a creative springboard for young innovators to boldly drive forward technologies that change the world for the better, inspired by the example set by Allen himself.

“In becoming the Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering, we will be forever linked with an internationally revered pioneer and visionary — an ‘idea man’ who left an indelible mark on science, on technology, on the Pacific Northwest and on the world,” said Ed Lazowska, Bill & Melinda Gates Chair in Computer Science & Engineering at the Ģ����Ƶ. “The aspirational and reputational value of this connection is incalculable. Thanks to him, CSE will be more nimble, more competitive and have an even greater impact on students, on science and on society.”

“Our school and its contributions to education and innovation will become part of Paul’s legacy, along with the many outstanding research institutes he has independently created,” said Hank Levy, Wissner-Slivka Chair in Computer Science & Engineering and director of the new school. “Every day, every one of us will work hard to make Paul as proud to be associated with us, as we are to be associated with him.”

The endowment comes in addition to Ģ����Ƶ CSE’s efforts to raise $110 million for a across the street from the Paul G. Allen Center. Ģ����Ƶ CSE broke ground on that project in January. Allen’s latest gift comes in the midst of the University’s most ambitious philanthropic campaign in its history, “Be Boundless — For Washington, For the World.” The campaign seeks to raise $5 billion by 2020.

For more information, contact Ed Lazowska at lazowska@cs.washington.edu.

Source

Amazon is giving a major push to the campaign to build a second Computer Science & Engineering building on the Ģ����Ƶ campus with a $10 million gift, the university announced Thursday.

“Our state’s economy — and the world’s economy — depends on innovation and on innovators. Ģ����Ƶ graduates with skills in computer science are highly sought after, yet we are turning away excellent students who want to pursue studies in the field because we simply don’t have enough room,” said Ģ����Ƶ President Ana Mari Cauce. “This generous gift from Amazon brings us closer to doubling our capacity and allows us to better meet both student and workplace needs, which will benefit our state and nation.”

A long-time supporter of the Ģ����Ƶ’s Computer Science and Engineering programs, Amazon’s gift is a significant boost in the Ģ����Ƶ’s public-private partnership to raise $110 million for a new 130,000-square-foot building. The new building will provide the space needed for Ģ����Ƶ to double, to more than 600, the number of degrees awarded annually by the Department of Computer Science & Engineering (CSE).

“The Ģ����Ƶ is a world-class institution, and we are lucky to have thousands of Ģ����Ƶ graduates inventing and pioneering in Seattle – including right here at Amazon,” said Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO of Amazon. “We’re proud to support Ģ����Ƶ as they expand their computer science program, which will benefit the whole community.”

The 250-seat Amazon Auditorium and Gallery will be one of many new features that enhance the Ģ����Ƶ CSE student experience. Other key elements of the building include classrooms and educational labs, a sophisticated maker space, an undergraduate commons where students can study and collaborate, and research labs, including a 3,000-square-foot robotics lab.

The gift is only the latest way in which Amazon has supported the Ģ����Ƶ. For example, in 2012 Amazon established two $1 million endowed professorships in CSE — the Amazon Professorships in Machine Learning — to assist in recruiting two highly sought-after machine learning faculty members. The company also launched the Amazon Catalyst program — a collaboration with select universities aimed at identifying, funding and supporting bold, risky, globally impactful projects — at the Ģ����Ƶ last fall.

“Over the past 20 years, Amazon has grown into one of the leading and most innovative companies in the world, Ģ����Ƶ CSE has grown into one of the leading and most innovative computer science programs in the world, and Seattle has grown into one of the one of the leading and most innovative technology hubs in the world,” said Ed Lazowska, Ģ����Ƶ’s Bill & Melinda Gates Chair in Computer Science & Engineering. “Amazon’s gift will help make it possible for Ģ����Ƶ CSE to prepare more of Washington’s students for careers in Washington’s booming technology sector. It’s an investment in our collective future.”

to kick off the largest philanthropic��campaign in Ģ����Ƶ history on Oct. 21.

According to the Washington Student Achievement Council, the workforce gap in computer science – the gap between available jobs and prepared graduates – is far greater than in any other field. At the Ģ����Ƶ, student demand far outstrips program capacity: more incoming Ģ����Ƶ freshmen list CSE as their first choice major than any other field, and Ģ����Ƶ CSE currently can accommodate just one out of three qualified students who apply to the major. In addition, students in all fields recognize the value of a basic knowledge of computer science, so the demand is even greater – in the most recent year, 5,000 students enrolled in Ģ����Ƶ CSE’s introductory courses.

“Amazon is a global company, but it’s also a Seattle company,” said Hank Levy, Ģ����Ƶ CSE’s Wissner-Slivka Chair and department chair. “We are extremely thankful to Amazon for their support of Ģ����Ƶ CSE, and for the amazing impact they’ve had on Seattle and on the world.”

Seattle-based LMN Architects are designing the building with a goal to break ground in January 2017 and open in 2019.

For more information on the , contact Lazowska at lazowska@cs.washington.edu.

Source

Microsoft Corp. is awarding a $10 million gift to kick-start a campaign to build a second (CSE) building on the Ģ����Ƶ campus, Microsoft General Counsel and Executive Vice President announced on Friday.

“This is an investment in students who will become the innovators and creators of tomorrow,” Smith said. “We hope this first corporate commitment to a new Ģ����Ƶ CSE building inspires others — individual donors, companies and those in state government — to support a project vital to the future of our state.”

Microsoft’s gift represents the first corporate commitment to a public-private partnership to assemble $110 million in funding to construct a new 130,000-square-foot CSE building. The new facility will provide the space to enable the Ģ����Ƶ to double the number of computer science degrees it awards annually, from 300 to 600 — an important step in closing a large “workforce gap” in computer science in the state. According to the Washington Student Achievement Council, Washington needs to produce an annually to meet projected employer demand.

Yet today, Ģ����Ƶ CSE is able to accommodate only one out of three qualified students who apply to the major, even after a concerted effort by the University and the Legislature to expand enrollments. Microsoft has made closing the workforce gap a major focus, around which it built its initiative to create opportunities for young people in the state of Washington and around the world.

Ģ����Ƶ CSE — by far the state’s top supplier of computer science graduates to companies of all sizes and a nationally recognized leader in attracting female students — has outgrown its current space. Classrooms, lab space, offices and even auditoriums are at capacity. Tonight’s CSE has been moved to the basketball arena at because graduates and their families no longer fit into , which holds 1,200.

“The goal for our investment is to spur an expanded program that makes the joy, awe and the beauty of computer science available to more students,” said , Corporate Vice President, . “Ģ����Ƶ graduates are a source of talent for Microsoft and our extensive research collaborations benefit the region’s computer science prowess.��All of us at Microsoft want to see their computer science program continue to grow and thrive.”

The planned second building will complement the , which opened its doors in 2003 and helped catapult the department into the first tier of the nation’s computer science programs.

“Kids who grow up in the state of Washington deserve the opportunity to be educated for jobs at the forefront of our region’s innovation economy,” said , Ģ����Ƶ’s Bill & Melinda Gates Chair in Computer Science & Engineering. “It’s incredibly painful to have to turn away highly qualified students from our program due to lack of space and funding. Microsoft provided the first corporate gift to the Allen Center. We can’t thank them enough for once again leading the way.”

Ģ����Ƶ CSE is also experiencing unprecedented demand from nearly 5,000 non-majors annually who recognize basic computer science knowledge as a prerequisite for success in today’s technology-driven economy. These introductory classes have helped hook students from diverse backgrounds on computer science. In the past 10 years, Ģ����Ƶ CSE has , an achievement last month by an award from the National Center for Women & Information Technology. Roughly one-third of the undergraduates receiving degrees in computer science tonight are women, more than double the national average of peer institutions.

“The new building will enable Ģ����Ƶ CSE to build on our recent success in recruiting and retaining world-class faculty, expand opportunities for our students to conduct cutting-edge research and educate more undergraduates from Washington,” said , Wissner-Slivka Chair in Computer Science & Engineering and CSE department chair.

“Microsoft has consistently, over decades, invested in Ģ����Ƶ CSE. When combined with anticipated strategic investments by the state, these resources will allow us to increase our capacity and prepare more of Washington’s students for Washington’s leading-edge jobs.”

Source