| Agency Description The proposed general fund project will provide a new Data Science and Engineering Building at Old Dominion University’s Norfolk campus. The new building is necessary to support the commonwealth’s Technology Talent Investment Program for growth in computer science and computer engineering sectors as well as other technology-based industries. The projected demand for graduates in these rapidly growing fields is expected to expand by 6.8% in the Hampton Roads area by 2023 and continue to grow in subsequent years.
This is a new 128,626 gsf, multi-story building of standard 50-year construction, built on deep foundation piles. It includes 18 Class Labs, 32 Research Labs, 162 Offices and/or workstations, and over 25,000 gsf of student faculty collaboration space. It will also house an independent server room specific to the data science aspects of Cyber Security and big data analysis. The programmatic allocation is 22% teaching space, 34% research space, 20% offices/workstations, 19% collaboration space, and 5% shared building support space. It will have no impact on student fees.
The building will relocate small areas from existing facilities including Kaufman (Engineering), Engineering Systems, Engineering Computational Sciences, and Dragas Halls, providing space for other program growth in those buildings, while integrating the four department disciplines and their overlap in Data Science.
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| Justification The Data Science and Engineering Building supports ODU’s longstanding Commonwealth-wide leadership in producing STEM-H graduates. ODU consistently graduates the second highest percentage of STEM-H undergraduates among doctoral institutions across the Commonwealth. The diversity of our graduates has been recognized nationally and will continue to grow. A state-of-the-art facility is needed to ensure ODU’s continued leadership in the production of STEM-H graduates and expand degree offerings in data science and engineering. The Data Science and Engineering Building will provide strategic growth of data science and engineering careers, support for expanded experiential learning initiatives, and access to collaboration and student support spaces that are lacking or non-existent in current facilities serving these students, faculty, and researchers.
The new facility will include a technology-rich environment and include collaborative labs, classrooms, experiential learning spaces, research labs, and faculty/administration offices to support growth in data science, computing, and engineering. The building will expand the inventory of collaborative laboratories and learning spaces at the institution. Electrical and computer engineering, programs that have been constrained for years by limited and outdated laboratories and learning spaces, will be housed in the new building. The collaborative spaces will provide a setting where faculty and students from disciplines such as data science, mathematics, computing, engineering, cyber security, and manufacturing can work together to explore and apply data science strategies to a wide range of real-world problems as they relate to STEM-H professions. Bringing together these disciplines within a collaborative data science space that provides students the opportunity to learn about manufacturing, technology, and innovation will better prepare future graduates for multi-dimensional careers in computing, technology, and engineering.
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| Methodology ODU commissioned HBA Architects, who teamed up with the data science program consultant firm HGA Architects to determine the overall size and breakdown of the proposed building. They hosted multiple planning sessions and workshops with university staff and faculty to include Deans and Department Chairs, accounting for anticipated program growth and enrollment projections. To validate their calculations, the HBA/HGA team completed an analysis of similar buildings at peer institutions elsewhere in the Commonwealth that are in the planning and/or construction phase. It should be noted that due to ODU’s unique geographic location, to be compliant with Executive Order 45, the Data Science and Engineering Building requires deep pile foundations and atypical storm water management measures. |