Students and faculty in UT's computer science program are currently spread across seven different buildings. That will all change in 18 to 24 months when the new Bill and Melinda Gates Computer Science Complex opens.
UT's Computer Science Department chairman Bruce Porter stepped away from this afternoon's ground breaking ceremony at the Speedway Pedestrian Mall to talk to KUT News for a few minutes.
"We are totally jazzed about today," Porter said. "This is the end of an eight or nine year campaign to get a new building."
Total cost of the building is in the ballpark of $120 million, Porter said. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation contributed $30 million.
The computer science department is celebrating with a party stretching into this evening. It includes a Rock Band 3 competition and an 8 p.m. performance by the second place finisher on America's Got Talent, local band Arc Attack.
