On Monday, Dec. 17 at 10 a.m., Milwaukee School of Engineering (MSOE) will hold a topping off celebration for its new academic facility—the $34 million Dwight and Dian Diercks Computational Science Hall at 1025 N. Milwaukee St. MSOE faculty, staff, students, alumni, board members, donors, Mortenson representatives and the entire construction crew will gather to celebrate the final piece of steel being placed atop the new building. Members of the MSOE community are invited to sign the beam between 8:30 and 10 a.m.  

With the addition of Dwight and Dian Diercks Computational Science Hall, and its new Bachelor of Science in Computer Science program, MSOE will be positioned at the educational forefront in artificial intelligence (AI), deep learning, cyber security, robotics, cloud computing and other next-generation technologies. Classes will begin in Diercks Hall in September 2019.  

Dr. Dwight Diercks earned his bachelor’s degree in computer science and engineering at MSOE in 1990. He also holds an Honorary Doctor of Engineering degree from the university. Today, Diercks serves as senior vice president at NVIDIA, a California-based technology company and global leader in AI, supercomputing and visual computing.  

A short program will feature remarks from Dr. John Walz, MSOE President; Dr. Dwight Diercks, Senior Vice President, NVIDIA; and Alice Westphal '01, project superintendent, Mortenson. The final piece of steel will be lifted into place when the program concludes.  

Uihlein/Wilson – Ramlow/Stein Architects are the project developers and Mortenson is the construction manager.