Engineering Alumni and Supporters Help
Dedicate New Computer Science and Engineering Building

By Denine Hagen and Stephanie Sides I October 10, 2005

Steel drums and acoustic guitars set a festive mood for the dedication of the new Computer Science and Engineering Building, held on a warm Friday evening on September 30. The five-story teaching and research building is the academic home for 1,100 computer science and engineering students, and serves another 4,600 undergraduates as the headquarters for Warren College.

Nearly 180 alumni, among the 400 people attending, came back for an excited look at the old stomping grounds. They were treated to the first introduction of UCSD's new engineering courtyard, located along Warren Mall in what was once Prytel Field. At the heart of the Jacobs School of Engineering, the complex includes buildings for bioengineering, Calit2 and Computer Science and Engineering (CSE); and is adorned by "Bear," a 370,000-lb., natural boulder sculpture, and Legacy Walk with commemorative statements to and about the significance of the Jacobs School and UCSD.

Irwin Jacobs, Joan Jacobs, Chancellor Marye Anne Fox, Lindsey DeSalvo (CSE, '05), Professor Mohan Paturi, and Jacobs School Dean Frieder Seible

Chancellor Marye Anne Fox led the dedication, citing the "incredible quality" of the CSE faculty and the fact that their number has doubled in size since 1995. Those faculty are collaborating with nearly every other discipline on campus and are involved with many of UCSD's major research institutes including the San Diego Supercomputer Center, Calit2, and the Center for Networked Systems, all led by computer science and engineering faculty.

Among the speakers were QUALCOMM Chairman Irwin Jacobs and Joan Jacobs, co-chair of the Friends of the Stuart Collection, who introduced the engineering community to Tim Hawkinson's Bear sculpture.

Irwin Jacobs related research in computer science to developments in cell phones. Jacobs, himself a founding faculty member of the CSE department who taught the first introduction to computer science class at UCSD, said, "The cell phone has become a very powerful computer with as much power as a desktop system of just a few years ago. Phones are also now capable of supporting 3-D graphics for games and beginning to support high definition TV. In general, these areas lend themselves to more research, which will help the department attract superior faculty and students, and have a major impact on society."

Jacobs School of Engineering Dean Frieder Seible described the event as perhaps the largest ever gathering of engineering alumni on campus. It was the perfect backdrop to unveil the school's new Legacy Walk, with more than 400 pavers already installed, that tell a "wonderful story about how the university experience becomes such an important part of people's lives."