| Notes |
In addition to enabling the Allen School to serve more students, those efforts will also help the school and the UW to stay at the forefront of the computing field. Laboratories in the Gates Center include a wet lab to support the school’s work at the intersection of information technology and molecular engineering; the UW Reality Lab, which focuses on advancing the state of the art in augmented and virtual reality education and research; the Center for Neurotechnology, which aims to use technology to revolutionize the treatment of debilitating neurological conditions; and a 3,000-square-foot robotics laboratory.
Governor Jay Inslee — a proud Husky — noted that the impact of the new building and its inhabitants would extend far beyond their core focus. “This is so much beyond the world of computing,” Inslee said, “because the world of computing feeds every single thing that we’re growing our economy and our society on now.”
Of the 500 donors Smith mentioned, roughly 300 are Allen School alumni. That means nearly 200 people without an alumni connection to the school recognized the potential impact and threw their support behind the project. “From the bottom of my heart, thanks to all of you for what you’ve done to make this amazing building a reality,” said Allen School professor Ed Lazowska.
Bill Gates, Brad Smith, Jay Inslee, Ana Mari Cauce, Ed Lazowska, Hank Levy. Matt Hagen
Before the program began, Lazowska and Levy had taken Bill Gates, Cauce and Smith on a tour of the new building, visiting several labs and stopping to talk with students along the way. “It was fantastic to take the tour and not only see that it’s an incredible building, but to see some of the great work going on here,” Gates said to the assembled crowd later. Saying that he and Melinda are honored to have a building named after them that will increase the capacity of the school associated with Paul G. Allen, Gates also paid tribute to his late friend and collaborator who passed away last October.
“It would’ve been great if Paul could have been here,” he said. “He deserves so much credit for what happened at Microsoft and always believing in innovation and believing in the University of Washington. So hopefully he somewhere can appreciate the great development that is taking place here.”
Read the UW News release here, GeekWire articles on the building opening here and the dedication here, and a related Seattle Times editorial here. |