Carnegie Mellon University and Tata Consultancy Services break ground for global research facility
New York: Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) and Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), (BSE: 532540, NSE: TCS), a leading global IT services, consulting and business solutions organization, today took another historic step in their partnership by breaking ground for a new facility to be built on the CMU campus in Pittsburgh. The new ‘TCS Hall’ is supported by a $35 million grant from TCS, the largest-ever industry donation to CMU.
Facing Forbes Avenue, at the western entrance to the CMU campus, TCS Hall is slated to open in 2018. The building will house research and academic spaces where the two institutions will collaborate on promoting next-generation technologies that will drive the 4th Industrial Revolution, including cognitive systems and autonomous vehicles. In addition to the research and academic spaces, the 48,000-square-foot building will feature an innovation courtyard, an eco-sustainable rain garden and a ’robot yard’. The high-tech facility will feature a steel-and-brick architectural design, to pay homage to Pittsburgh’s historical contribution towards previous industrial revolutions.
“The history between the Tata group and Pittsburgh has roots that go back more than a century. Our Founder, Mr Jamsetji Tata, came to the world’s steel-making capital in the early 20th century to understand technologies that he would later use to launch India’s own industrial revolution,” said N Chandrasekaran, Chairman of Tata Sons. “We are pleased to come full circle and launch this facility, fostering further digital technology research in driving what is the largest economic and development opportunity ever faced by mankind — the 4th Industrial Revolution.”
“The leadership of TCS and Tata Sons are harnessing the power of one of the world’s largest business groups to bring some of the most promising new technologies to the marketplace,” said Subra Suresh, President of CMU. “We believe that, operating at the intersection of technology and humanity, CMU and TCS each bring extraordinary strengths to this unique partnership.”
“TCS and CMU share not only similar values and ambitions for strengthening education, but overlapping anniversary years as well. We are pleased to be laying the ground for this facility during CMU’s 50th year since its founding in 1967, and to see it come active during TCS’s own upcoming 50th year in 2018,” added Rajesh Gopinathan, CEO and MD of Tata Consultancy Services. “The research outcomes from this collaboration will drive applied innovation for our own clients worldwide, who are fast transforming themselves into agile businesses, built on digital platforms such as artificial intelligence, automation, cloud and robotics.”
The $35 million TCS grant also supports TCS Presidential Scholarships and Fellowships, with the first ‘TCS Scholars’ selected and enrolled at CMU by the Fall of 2017 and Spring of 2018. TCS and CMU share a fundamental interest in STEM education. In the US, TCS is a founding partner of national initiatives such as MillionWomenMentors and US2020, and last week announced “Ignite My Future in Schools” to engage 20,000 US teachers and 1 million K-12 students by embedding computer science and computational thinking into core subjects such as math, English and science. CMU, which has the nation’s top-ranked School of Computer Science, also continues to build on its own pipeline programs, including the Summer Academy for Math and Science, helping to prepare students from underserved communities.
This TCS and CMU partnership adds to TCS’s extensive global STEM education initiatives. Focused on creating scalable programs that address pressing societal needs, the combined efforts in North America, Asia, the UK, Europe, Latin America and the Middle East have so far engaged more than two million students, inspiring them towards careers in technology.
N Chandrasekaran, Chairman of Tata Sons; Ratan Tata, Chairman Emeritus of Tata Sons; Rajesh Gopinathan, Chief Executive Officer of TCS; and Sury Kant, President of TCS in North America; plus a delegation of other corporate leaders from the United States, joined CMU President Subra Suresh and other CMU leaders to launch construction of the new TCS Hall. They were also joined by prominent civic leaders from Pittsburgh and the region.