2 minute read
• SUPERCOMPUTER FUELS NEW COMPUTATIONAL SCIENCE HALL AT MSOE
// By John Walz President of Milwaukee School of Engineering (MSOE)
Imagine a place where you can explore a 3D image of an operating table, safely test cybersecurity projects in a room grounded with electromagnetic paint, immerse yourself in augmented and virtual reality environments and be awed by the workings of a supercomputer, all under one roof. It may seem like a tall order for the future, but it’s the reality of the new Dwight and Dian Diercks Computational Science Hall at Milwaukee School of Engineering.
Dwight Diercks graduated from MSOE in 1990 with a degree in computer science and engineering. He rose from the 22nd employee at NVIDIA, a California-based technology company and global leader in artificial intelligence (AI), supercomputing and inventor of the GPU, to the senior vice president of software engineering. In 2017, Diercks and his wife Dian provided a $34 million gift to MSOE to fund Diercks Hall, which had its grand opening celebration in September and is now holding classes and hosting community partnerships.
The highlight of Diercks Hall and brains behind the futuristic, tech-savvy building is the NVIDIA GPU-accelerated AI supercomputer named Rosie. The supercomputer propels MSOE forward as an educational leader in AI. AI is transformative to the engineering community, as well as virtually every other industry, and enables us to change the way we solve problems and offer solutions. Problems that were once deemed impossible now have solutions hidden in data, and our students are here to learn how to crack the code.
This new facility advances MSOE to the forefront of education and will support our expanded computer science and software engineering curriculum, as well as provide unique opportunities for students across all majors. For example, the LogistiVIEW AR/VR Lab includes a “cave” that allows videos to be projected onto three walls to create an immersive environment. This enables students to virtually walk through a building they are designing, visualize molecular modeling and so much more.
Diercks Hall will transform the way our students learn, teachers teach, and community collaborates. This marks a bold step forward for not only MSOE, but Milwaukee as a community.
Today, there’s a huge demand for industries to implement new technology and utilize data analytics, machine learning and AI. Diercks Hall helps meet that demand and elevates Milwaukee as a center for tech talent. Businesses can collaborate with students, faculty and staff to leverage the computing infrastructure and make previously unreachable ideas a reality.
MSOE welcomes organizations to come in for collaboration and help prepare students for internships and full-time positions after graduation. This space provides hands-on learning for students and exposes them to real life projects that companies large and small are working on.
At MSOE, we are engineering a connection between academia and industry leaders that will elevate our community while preparing our students to be the leaders of tomorrow. We are thrilled to have this new space to drive MSOE forward and connect our students, faculty and staff with industry professionals across the community. We could not have asked for two better people to partner with than Dwight and Dian Diercks. I thank them for their incredible generosity and belief in our institution. We also recognize the numerous individuals and organizations who have contributed nearly $4 million to sustain spaces within the facility. Thank you all for supporting our bold step forward.
