I am very pleased to announce that the CUNY Board of Trustees approved a design consultant agreement for a new Interdisciplinary High-Performance Computing building at the College of Staten Island at its February 27, 2012 meeting. The consulting firm of Hendrickson, Durham & Richardson was selected for professional design and construction-related services as required for the 175,000 gross square foot, $210 million academic computational science research building that will serve the College and The City University of New York, as well as other researchers in the metropolitan area. The Interdisciplinary High-Performance Computing building will be the first new academic building constructed on the campus since it opened in 1993. It will house the CUNY Interdisciplinary High-Performance Computing Center (IHPCC) and will serve as a University-wide resource for computer-based modeling and simulation that are a requisite for performing advanced multidisciplinary research and the development of advanced technology systems. The new building was recommended as the cornerstone of the College of Staten Island Master Plan approved for implementation in 2010 and has a significant mixed-use academic and research program to help address the space needs at the College.
The facility will contain spaces dedicated to state-of-the art scientific computing, laboratories for visualization, computer labs flexibly designed to encourage collaborative faculty and student research, and high-tech instructional laboratories. It is anticipated that the departments of Mathematics, Computer Science, and Engineering Science and Physics will be relocated to the new building. The building will also include general-purpose classrooms, dedicated student work areas, lecture halls, a café, and other programmable spaces that will promote interdisciplinary collaboration and provide needed study space and student services.
The continued growth of the College’s undergraduate and graduate enrollment, commitment to increasing full-time faculty, and greater internationalization of the campus, offering new and expanded programs, all necessitate expansion of our facilities. The addition of the Interdisciplinary High-Performance Computing building will provide us with the space needed for future growth.
I thank the campus community and all those who have participated in bringing this initiative to fruition.
