EAST LANSING — A ribbon-cutting ceremony Wednesday celebrated a $30,000 gift from the Detroit market research data firm Urban Science in support of the Computer Science and Engineering Capstone Lab at Michigan State University’s College of Engineering. The lab is located in Room 3352 Engineering Building.
MSU engineering dean Leo Kempel, Urban Science global recruiting director Matt Bejin and its CIO, Elizabeth Klee, were joined by MSU Trustee Melanie Foster as they clipped green ribbons to dedicate the facilities.
A gift of $30,000 from Urban Science was used to purchase 12 Apple 27-inch iMacs for the lab. Urban Science previously had donated $30,000 in 2011 for an initial set of 12 Apple 27-inch iMacs. The machines are powerful Apple desktop computers that are able to use virtualization, run Apple’s OS X operating system simultaneously with various versions of Microsoft Windows and Linux.
Said Kempel: “Strengthening this lab allows the College of Engineering to help students transition into being career ready graduates. We are grateful for this contribution from Urban Science.”
Added Foster: “As board members, we truly value our relationship with industry but especially with industry based in Michigan. We value the opportunity that our graduates can stay here in Michigan.” She also noted that Urban Science has hired 29 MSU alumni in the last five years, including two recent graduates.
Starting in the fall of 2009, Urban Science has sponsored 13 CSE capstone projects. The fall 2014 project, titled “HR Matters,” is a software tool that enables automobile dealers to assess the key behavioral competencies of their employees to help them develop in their role such as a salesperson or service advisor.
Professor Wayne Dyksen, from the Department of Computer Science and Engineering in the MSU College of Engineering, is the CSE capstone course professor. Dyksen noted that “our partnership with Urban Science helps us provide our students with outstanding computing facilities. In return, MSU provides Urban Science with outstanding computer science graduates.”