Last modified: Wednesday, October 12, 2011
McRobbie, dignitaries dedicate IU's 'greenest' building, tech headquarters
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Oct. 12, 2011
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Indiana University President Michael A. McRobbie and a dais filled with university trustees, IU administrators, public officials and dignitaries dedicated the university's new $37 million Cyberinfrastructure Building today (Oct. 12) in a ceremony that recognized a 15-year journey to make IU a leader in the uses and applications of information technology.
Indiana University President Michael A. McRobbie presided over dedication ceremonies today (Oct. 12) for the university's new $37 million Cyberinfrastructure Building.
"This magnificent new Cyberinfrastructure Building that we are dedicating today is a vital step in ensuring the provision of world-class IT services and facilities at IU in a stable and reliable manner," McRobbie said. "The name of this building itself reflects this. Cyberinfrastructure is the complex integration using high speed networks of geographically distributed services, supercomputers, massive data storage devices and a diverse array of research devices from high-powered microscopes to DNA sequencing arrays to radio and optical telescopes. And on top of all of this is an extensive set of research, educational and administrative applications and services."
The 123,000-square-foot building is the latest and most inspiring building to be completed at the growing IU Technology Park East at 10th Street and the Indiana State Road 45/46 Bypass. It features a collaborative, open-space office design, numerous spaces for teleconferencing, three telepresence rooms, 36 "focus booths" for meetings and private discussions, and abundant soft- and bar-style seating to encourage work throughout the building. The CIB design also represents a significant investment in green infrastructure with its employee bicycle garage, locker rooms with showers and storage, solar panels and grounds landscaped for water capture. The design has achieved gold LEED certification with a possibility to reach platinum certification.
The new facility is adjacent to two other recent IT investments at IU, the $32.7 million IU Data Center that houses more than 1,000 computer servers, and the $10 million IU Innovation Center, which is home to university researchers, start-up companies and IU's Pervasive Technology Institute. Both opened their doors in 2009.
"This new facility cements and enables us to further enhance and expand our IT leadership, but we have never done IT for IT sake," McRobbie said. "Every advance that we are making in terms of information technology -- network computing, grid computing, cloud computing, e-texts, open source software, digital libraries, cybersecurity and numerous other areas -- is closely linked with, and integrated into, our research and educational programs."
Bradley C. Wheeler, IU vice president for information technology and CIO, joined McRobbie in making comments during the ceremony.
"The CIB is a 'collaborate anywhere' building. There are three Cisco Telepresence rooms that connect to similar rooms in the Wells Library, Bryan Hall and on each of IU's campuses," Wheeler noted. "These rich video systems enable productive teamwork and meetings without the costs and time of commutes among the campuses.
"As intended, the CIB is already tranforming the work of the almost 600 staff and part-time student employees who work here each day," he added. "We've traded cubical walls for open, smaller personal spaces and plentiful common spaces. We've created a facility that is purposefully designed for frictionless collaboration from a chance meeting on the open staircases to an impromptu sit down at the side tables that line the windows. We drew from the very best insights of Silicon Valley firms and the work styles of a increasingly 'born digital' generation."
An exterior view of the new Cyberinfrastructure Building in IU's Technology Park East at 10th Street and the Indiana State Road 45/46 Bypass in Bloomington.
The event also featured the presentation of two university medals of distinction, as Dennis Gannon received the President's Medal of Excellence and Ira Fuchs, the Thomas Hart Benton Mural Medallion. Gannon is the director of applications for the Cloud Computing Future Group at Microsoft and an emeritus professor of computer science at IU Bloomington. A chair of the Department of Computer Science at IU Bloomington for seven years, he led the team that designed IU's School of Informatics and Computing.
Fuchs is credited with co-founding Because It's Time Network (BITNET) in 1981, the world's first computer messaging network for liberal arts professors. His work played a crucial role in the early development of the Internet and e-mail technology, and he continues to pioneer information technology projects in the academic world.
To view a work-day photo gallery tour inside the Cyberinfrasture Building, visit here. To view the entire dedication ceremony, visit here.
For more information or to speak with university officials, please contact Steve Chaplin, University Communications, at 812-856-1896 or stjchap@iu.edu.
