CLOUD

Howard University engineering students and faculty gathered on Oct. 3, for a ribbon-cutting ceremony to mark the opening of the new Yahoo Data Center housed in Howard's Computer Learning and Design Center (CLDC) at the College of Engineering, Architecture, and Computer Science (CEACS).

“We are extremely grateful for Yahoo’s generous donation,” said Howard University Interim President Dr. Wayne A.I. Frederick. “Today symbolizes Howard’s continued commitment to technological research and computing.”

Dating back to its founding in 1911, CEACS has led the effort to increase the number of minorities, particularly African Americans, in engineering, computer science and other fields. In 2009 and again in 2013, the National Science Foundation (NSF) ranked Howard University as the top producer of African-American bachelor’s degree recipients who subsequently earned science and engineering doctoral degrees in the United States. The report, “Baccalaureate Origins of U.S.-trained S&E Doctorate Recipients” examines trends over the past decade among private, public, Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) and international institutions.

A Yahoo executive team presented 125 servers that the company donated to Howard. According to Sonya Smith, Ph.D., director of the CLDC, the servers will allow students and faculty to develop more accurate, high fidelity computational models to solve engineering problems. The Yahoo executives fielded questions about internships and career opportunities at Yahoo from computer science students and about Yahoo products from faculty during the event.