Jackson State University News Jackson State celebrates grand opening of new School of Engineering building (JACKSON, Miss.) - Hundreds of Jackson State University students, faculty, staff and supporters gathered in front of the university's School of Engineering Building Thursday, Sept. 9, to celebrate the grand opening of the campus' newest academic facility. "We strongly felt that a school of engineering should be in the capital city at Jackson State University," said U.S. Representative Bennie Thompson of Mississippi, who was instrumental in helping Jackson State secure funding for the $20 million building. "This investment is a down payment on the future." The celebration was held during the 2010 Advancing Minorities' Interest in Engineering (AMIE) conference hosted by JSU. The AMIE conference brings together business leaders, engineering professionals and engineering school leaders from 14 Historically Black Colleges and Universities to help businesses diversify America's work force in preparation for the challenges of the 21st century and beyond. Launched in 2000, Jackson State's School of Engineering enrolls some 500 undergraduate and graduate students. The school offers bachelor's degrees in computer science, civil engineering, computer engineering, electrical engineering and telecommunications engineering. The telecommunication engineering program is one of two such accredited undergraduate programs in the nation. Master's degrees are offered in computer science and engineering with concentrations in civil engineering, environmental engineering, geological engineering, computer engineering, electrical engineering, telecommunications engineering, coastal engineering and computational engineering. The school offers the only engineering program in Mississippi's capital. "It's not surprising that the school is growing very rapidly," Hardy said. "The location is a factor and the quality of the program. We have excellent researchers here who are at the cutting edge in the areas of robotics, cyber security, data mining and high performance computing." - JSU - About Jackson State University: Bridge to a Brighter Tomorrow Jackson State University, founded in 1877, is a historically black, high research activity university located in Jackson, the capital city of the state of Mississippi. Jackson State's nurturing academic environment challenges individuals to change lives through teaching, research and service. Officially designated as Mississippi's Urban University, Jackson State continues to enhance the state, nation and world through comprehensive economic development, health-care, technological and educational initiatives. The only public university in the Jackson metropolitan area, Jackson State is located near downtown, with three satellite campuses throughout the city. For more inform SANDRA M. PHOENIX Program Director HBCU Library Alliance sphoenix@hbculibraries.org<mailto:sphoenix@hbculibraries.org> www.hbculibraries.org<http://www.hbculibraries.org/> 404.592.4820 1438 West Peachtree Street NW Suite 200 Atlanta, GA 30309 Toll Free: 1.800.999.8558 (Lyrasis) Fax: 404.892.7879 www.lyrasis.org<http://www.lyrasis.org/> Honor the ancestors, honor the children. Register now http://www.hbculibraries.org/html/meeting-form.html for the October 24-26, 2010 HBCU Library Alliance 4th Membership Meeting and the "Conference on Advocacy" pre-conference in Montgomery, AL. The Pre-Conference and Membership meeting are open to directors and other librarians.