News Release

Chambers Center to Offer Cutting Edge Tech

(April 21, 2009) -

A groundbreaking ceremony for the John T. Chambers Technology Center will be held at noon, April 24 on the Southwest Hall Lawn of University of the Pacific's Stockton campus. The building is expected to be built by fall 2010.

Once completed, the 24,000 square-foot-building will be equipped with the latest technology, including interactive wall displays that will record what is written on them so lectures can be extended over several class periods or can be transferred between rooms; collaborative laboratories where students will work directly with technology companies and government agencies to develop the latest software; and wireless high-speed Internet access throughout the building. The $12 million facility will serve as the new home to the School of Engineering and Computer Science.

"The Chambers Center will ensure that Pacific stays on the cutting edge of rapidly evolving engineering and computer science technologies," said Don DeRosa, president of the University. "We are pleased to recognize John Chambers' innovative leadership in this field with our second LEED-certified facility."

"The Technology Center will provide the resources for faculty, students and industry partners to become deeply engaged in solving real-world problems," said Ravi Jain, dean of the School of Engineering and Computer Science. "This project would not have been possible without the support of our generous donors, industry partners, faculty, alumni, university administration and the Board of Regents." 

The building will have seven research and teaching and industry project laboratories, classrooms, faculty offices, student study areas and conference rooms.

Last year, Pacific's Board of Regents named the building for John T. Chambers, Chairman and CEO of technology company Cisco, and parent of a Pacific graduate. Cisco is a word-wide leader in manufacturing computer networking equipment and new technologies that allow computers to share data.

Donors to the building include Charles and Carolyn Bloom, Darrell and Janet Delavan, Walter and Betty Baun, Ronald and Joanna Shelly, General John Toomay, Fawzi Al-Saleh, Esq., Faisal Sultan Al-Essa, and Stephen Bechtel.

More information about the new tech center can be found online at
http://web.pacific.edu/documents/school-engineering/acrobat/John-T-Chambers-Technology-Flyer_revised_040209.pdf