The University of Florida recently began construction on the Malachowsky Hall for Data Science & Information Technology, a 263,000-sq.-ft. academic building located in the heart of UF's main campus in Gainesville.
The facility will connect students and researchers from across disciplines and create a hub for advances in computing, communication, and cyber-technologies with the potential for profound societal impact.
Anchored by a gift from UF alumnus Chris Malachowsky as well as funding from the state, the new building will provide collaboration space and focus on the application of computing, communication and cyber technologies to a broad spectrum of areas including health care, pharmacology, security, technology development and fundamental science.
Malachowsky, alongside Silicon Valley computer company NVIDIA, which he co-founded, is a key partner for UF in the artificial intelligence (AI) space, including the university's initiative to integrate AI across curriculum.
The building is slated for completion around April 2023.
"The fields of artificial intelligence and data science are of central importance in building a better world," Malachowsky said. "I'm honored to further UF's world-class capabilities in these areas, which it can share with current and future students, equipping them with the skills to do important, even life-changing work."
UF Board of Trustees Chair Mori Hosseini said, "The Malachowsky Hall for Data Science & Information Technology will create a transformative experience at UF that will set the standard for future engineering and data science buildings across national and international campuses."
Hosseini added that four groups will occupy the new facility: the Herbert Wertheim College of Engineering; the College of Medicine; the College of Pharmacy; and the Informatics Institute, which is part of UF Research.
"As a result of that collaboration and this building's thoughtful design, the students will benefit from better training, faster acquisition of key research skills, and opportunities to work side by side with some of the best scientists in the world. That will make them even more prepared for their careers after they graduate from UF."
The building also will house the OneFlorida Minority Education Program in Implementation Science, designed to enhance workforce diversity and reduce health disparities by training underrepresented minority faculty from throughout Florida, including those from Historically Black Colleges and Universities, to conduct health care-focused implementation science studies in underserved areas.
The engineering spaces will serve as the headquarters for IT students in the National Society of Black Engineers, Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers, Women in Science and Engineering, and Women in Computer & Information Science & Engineering. Faculty and students will be able to expand on fields like human centered computing, intelligent healthcare and informatics and data science.
For health programs in the building, UF will meet the growing demand for experts on the use of health care data and distinct practices in pharmaceuticals through pharmacoepidemiology and pharmacoeconomics.
In addition, Malachowsky Hall will house the State of Florida's Consortium for Medical Marijuana Clinical Outcomes Research.
Students will be leaders in understanding, developing, and utilizing integrative health data models like those in the OneFlorida Data Trust, a statewide system of limited data sets incorporating diagnoses, procedures, vital signs, and lab results to analyze and improve health outcomes for Floridians.
Undergraduate and graduate students from any college and discipline will have access to data analytic courses through the Informatics Institute's data science certificate programs. These programs build on data and software courses that facilitate cross-college interactions allowing students to be nimble in their approaches to multi-faceted problems.
"UF research initiatives consistently strive to push the bounds of our existing body of knowledge, and the space in the Malachowsky Hall for Data Science & Information Technology will play a key role in supporting a diverse range of opportunities for our students and researchers," said David Norton, UF vice president for research. "This space will facilitate the very multidisciplinary collaboration that fuels breakthroughs and makes innovation possible."
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