无忧视频

HMC Celebrates Groundbreaking of New Computer Science Center

by Liam Chalk ’23

无忧视频 held a groundbreaking ceremony on Sept. 28 for the new McGregor Computer Science Center, which will include a Makerspace, recording studios and other community resources. The new building鈥檚 three stories and 36,000-square-foot structure should also help alleviate some of the strain placed on the school鈥檚 expanding computer science department.

The ceremony brought together alumni, board members, faculty and students for speeches by various constituencies on campus.

Engineering Chair Liz Orwin ’95 describes the building’s new makerspace

The building was planned in collaboration with the HMC community, according to Kim Patten, a partner at Steinberg Hart, the architectural firm that designed it.

鈥淲e engaged with the faculty, staff and students to understand what the goals and vision of this facility would be and 鈥� were inspired by the desire of the college to create a facility that would act as a campus and community gateway, embracing and welcoming people to the campus,鈥� Patten said.

The building, located at the southwest corner of Mudd on Platt Boulevard and Dartmouth Avenue, will be unique on HMC鈥檚 campus because its primary entrance faces away from HMC鈥檚 central quad, unlike most other buildings on campus, Patten said.

鈥淭he addition of the McGregor Center to our campus is an exciting and important step forward for the college,鈥� HMC President Maria Klawe said in her remarks at the groundbreaking. 鈥淲e are eager for the buzz of activity that we will experience in our fantastic new makerspace, and we are excited that our growing computer science department will gain a new home.鈥�

The new building will, among other features, include a new makerspace鈥攁 studio designed for hands-on creative activities鈥攁nd machine shop, allowing the school to grow its design and manufacturing curricula, engineering department chair Elizabeth Orwin 鈥�95 said.

Computer Science Chair Melissa O’Neill gives a history of the CS department at Mudd.

鈥淓ssentially anytime where there鈥檚 project work for students from any discipline: Clinic thesis, research teams, anywhere students want to come together to work together to create something, the space will have something to offer them,鈥� she said.

HMC鈥檚 computer science program has exploded in recent years, necessitating the space.

The school didn鈥檛 buy its first computer or offer its first computer science classes until 1969, 14 years after its founding, computer science department chair Melissa O鈥橬eill said in a speech at the groundbreaking.

HMC hired its first full-time computer science professor in 1979, and the College graduated its first CS majors in 1992.

Now, dozens of students graduate in CS each year. Last year, the 90 CS-related majors made up 43% of the graduating class, according to the college鈥檚 Office of Institutional Research.

Twenty-four percent of all declared majors enrolled through the end of the spring semester were CS majors, making computer science the second-most popular major behind only engineering (31 percent). Another 21% were CS-math or Math-Comp.-Bio majors.

HMC鈥檚 computer science department has also set records in gender equality. The computer science major has grown from 12% female in 2005 to nearly 50% female in 2019, O鈥橬eill said.

Scott A. McGregor, for whom the building was named, with President Klawe, trustee Laurie Girand and board chair Wayne Drinkward.

Nationwide, women earned only 18% of bachelor鈥檚 degrees in computer science in 2015, according to the National Science Foundation.

HMC is also the only college to have approximately equal gender representation from both students and faculty in computer science, Klawe said.

But the high demand for computer science classes has placed a strain on the department, limiting class registrations and causing frustration among CS majors and other Mudders.

The space created by the new building, though, 鈥渨ill create room to grow from 16 to 25 faculty positions over time,鈥� according to a .

Students are excited about the new space.

鈥淭he college is heading in a direction of further prioritizing inclusivity, community and preparedness for the next generation of students,鈥� ASHMC President Kyle Grace 鈥�21 said in a speech at the groundbreaking. 鈥淎s a computer science major here at Mudd, I am excited to see our incredible computer science program become even larger.鈥�

Guests at the groundbreaking sign the beam that will be a feature of the makerspace

Construction will last up to 18 months, with an estimated completion date in early 2021, according to the HMC website. The building is named for Scott A. McGregor, who along with his wife, trustee Laurie J. Girand, was a major donor for the project.

The school set a fundraising goal of $17.2 million for the project, which it reached in approximately three months. The building will cost $30 million in total, with the remaining funds coming from debt financing in the school鈥檚 operating budget, the website said.

If you would like to stay updated on the progress of the McGregor center construction, you can view the construction webcam on Harvey Mudd鈥檚 website, which provides an updated image every 10 minutes.

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