IU dedicates new IT building

When now-President Michael McRobbie was Chief Information Officer for IU, he had a vision of an information technology team that would lead in research and innovation.

Yesterday, that vision became more concrete with the formal dedication of the $37 million Cyberinfrastructure Building.

The building is the newest addition to the growing IU Technology Park East located at 10th and the Bypass.

“When I first came here, the president at the time charged us to make IU a leader of IT,” McRobbie said. “We achieved that goal some time ago as part of a strategic plan, but today our 15-year technology odyssey finally ends in a home.”

For the last 15 years, University Information and Technology Services faculty have been scattered around campus, from the basement of the School of Health, Physical Education and Recreation to Franklin Hall.
Now, all UITS employees are relocated to their new operation center in the CIB.

“The building pulls us all together since we have, in the past, been so spread out,” said Bradley Wheeler, IU vice president of information technology and CIO. “Now you can have that chance meeting on the staircase and can freely exchange ideas in the cubicle-free office.”

Daphne Siefert-Herron, manager of strategic initiatives for IU, said she is enjoying her new office space in the CIB.

“It really does help us collaborate,” Siefert-Herron said.

“Now that we’re all together, you see people you normally wouldn’t and it helps to build personal relationships.”

In addition to encouraging collaboration and shared resources, the CIB was also designed to be IU’s “greenest” building in the state.

Wheeler said the architects worked to incorporate natural light in the design. The windows harvest natural light to save energy and brighten the interior.

Before moving to their new facility, UITS staff recycled thousands of pounds of paper and will now make use of only eight printers for the entire new facility.

The CIB also features an employee bicycle garage, solar panels and grounds landscaped for water capture. 

Two University medals of distinction were presented at the ceremony. Dennis Gannon, director of applications for the Cloud Computing Futures Group at Microsoft and former professor of computer science at IU, was awarded the President’s Medal.

Ira Fuchs, founder of BITNET — the first computer network intended for use among liberal arts scholars — was awarded the Benton Medal, which is the highest honor McRobbie is authorized to bestow on a figure outside of the University.

“I would like to commend and dedicate this building as a place of truly unique importance,” McRobbie said, concluding the ceremony.