Henry Samueli and his wife, Susan, are deeply committed to supporting science, technology, engineering and mathematics education at all levels of the learning pipeline. Photo: Steve Zylius
Henry Samueli and his wife, Susan, are deeply committed to supporting science, technology, engineering and mathematics education at all levels of the learning pipeline. Photo: Steve Zylius
Thanks to a $30 million gift from the Samueli Foundation, UCI is reaching new heights in cross-disciplinary engineering, computing and physical sciences research.
The Interdisciplinary Science and Engineering Building project, conceived through this generous gift and state funds, is in full swing on a parcel of land formerly occupied by parking lot 12A near the Physical Sciences Lecture Hall. When complete in 2022, the roughly 200,000-square-foot structure will integrate faculty, students, and staff from UCI’s School of Physical Sciences, Donald Bren School of Information and Computer Science, and Henry Samueli School of Engineering to collaborate on research spanning health, medicine, the environment and more.
Henry Samueli, co-founder of semiconductor giant Broadcom Corp., and his wife, Susan, are deeply committed to supporting science, technology, engineering and mathematics education at all levels of the learning pipeline.
“Addressing today’s grand challenges in society requires collaborative research across a multitude of disciplines, aligning with our STEM ecosystem concept,” said Henry Samueli. “We hope this gift to UCI can be a catalyst for accelerating cross-disciplinary research and scientific innovations that benefit society.”
The possibilities for this building are endless. UCI planners envision it can be used for the development of chemical and material sensors to better diagnose and treat cancers; to harness big data, environmental engineering and organic chemistry to improve water supply or solar energy; to test driverless vehicles; and to allow cybersecurity coders and mathematicians to collaborate on military or medical challenges.
“UCI is already a place that does interdisciplinary research extremely well,” says Pramod P. Khargonekar, UCI vice chancellor for research. “We expect this new building to become a world-leading platform for even greater discoveries, inventions and innovations to address the most pressing challenges ranging across human health, global warming, water, energy and related issues.”
The Samuelis have been longtime supporters of UCI. In 2017, the couple made a transformational gift of $200 million to found the Susan and Henry Samueli College of Health Sciences which combines a new Integrative Health Institute, the UCI School of Medicine, the Sue & Bill Gross School of Nursing, School of Pharmacy, and School of Population Health.
The Henry Samueli School of Engineering received $20 million from the Samueli Foundation in 1999, and the Susan Samueli Center for Integrative Medicine was established in 2001 with a $5.7 million gift. Henry Samueli is also a distinguished adjunct professor in UCI’s electrical engineering & computer science department.
