Posted by Matteo Busalacchi, Marketing Assistant, Seattle University Alumni Association on Wednesday, May 1, 2019 at 1:03 PM PDT

After years of planning, President Stephen Sundborg, S.J. and the Center for Science and Innovation Task Force will host a ground-breaking ceremony on Thursday, May 30 to commemorate the important milestone of the start of construction. All Seattle U alumni are invited to the celebration, which will feature a community lunch where you can enjoy music, food, a photo booth and a VR tour of the new building.

Designed to be the new visual centerpiece of Seattle University, the Center for Science and Innovation (CSI) will be the cornerstone of the future of STEM on campus. The project aims to bring cross-disciplinary collaboration to students and faculty in a building designed to enhance learning, cultivate creativity and enrich understanding for the world’s next generation of leaders.

Construction for the new building will be completed in 2021 and will be accompanied by renovations to the two other College of Science and Engineering buildings. Once complete, the CSI will have 111,000 square feet of new space and will house labs, maker spaces, classrooms, offices and open-use areas.

Funding for the project, Seattle University’s largest ever, comes mostly from private donors and includes industry partners like Amazon, Microsoft and the M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust. Recently announced, both Amazon and Microsoft have contributed $3 million and the Murdock Charitable Trust gifted $1.75 million, with all citing the importance of providing a space for our future STEM leaders to prepare for responsible and ethical leadership.

As part of their partnership, Andy Jassy, CEO of Amazon Web Services, will join students for a fireside chat moderated by Roshanak Roshandel, PhD, associate professor and chair of the computer science department and an Amazon Scholar. Students will have the opportunity to exchange views on the future of computer science access to education and career opportunities in computer science, artificial intelligence and related fields.

“The Center for Science and Innovation is the boldest project that we’ve ever done,” says President Stephen Sundborg, S.J. “It represents the way our education is moving, which is to complement the humanities with our science programs.”

We hope you will join us for the groundbreaking ceremony.

Center for Science and Innovation Groundbreaking Ceremony
May 30, 2019
Program and groundbreaking: 11:30 a.m.
Lunch: 12:15 p.m.
Seattle University – Lower Mall

Registration is free.

Visit the CSI web page to take a virtual tour of the building and learn about this transformational addition to Seattle University.