Kulongoski, Microsoft's Ballmer fete new PSU tech school
KATU.com Web Producer
PORTLAND, Ore. - It was another feather in Portland State University's cap Tuesday as Governor Kulongoski and Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer were on hand at the ribbon cutting of a new $53 million engineering school in downtown Portland.
The Maseeh College of Engineering and Computer Science is the latest addition to PSU, which is currently the largest college in Oregon.
Over $6 million in funding for the school came from Fariborz Maseeh, an immigrant to the U.S. who studied engineering at PSU, started his own technology business and sold it years later for millions of dollars.
Tuesday, he said he felt "privilege and joy" to give back to the school that helped him get started.
At the ribbon cutting, Governor Kulongoski said the new engineering school students would work on diverse projects, including traffic congestion, global warming, sustainability and many other fields with implications for the city and state.
Microsoft Corporation also had a hand in bringing the school to completion, and Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer was on hand for the ribbon cutting.
Ballmer said he hoped schools in urban centers like PSU would be magnets for students interested in technology engineering, and that Oregon was a hotbed of technology development.
"Oregon is really an I.T. hub, and PSU is in the center of that I.T hub, " Ballmer said at the ceremony. "Besides being the biggest [university in Oregon], it's right here in the center of where most of the high tech is actually happening, jobs-wise."
In an interview, Ballmer noted that when he was getting interested in computers, it was a cottage industry that demanded hobbyists know programming and even how to build computers.
Now, with computer technology so prevalent in modern life, Ballmer said young people need to have the curiosity to explore what makes the modern technological miracles work.
The engineering school boasts 41 labs with projects spanning theoretical computer science, micro-gravity research, experiments in new materials and robotics.
Not only is the building a center for high-tech, it's also a high-tech 'green' building.
Rainwater from the roof is piped to student hydrology experiments, and geothermal heating helps keep the building warm.
Officials say the building is in the running for an award for sustainability.