Originally Posted: Feb. 20, 2019
SMU is primed to move forward in the digital frontier with its new home for interdisciplinary research, the Gerald J. Ford Hall for Research and Innovation, that’s set to break ground on Friday, Feb. 22.
The 50,000-square-foot hub will sit adjacent to Harold Clark Simmons Hall on the SMU campus. Once complete, it will equip students, faculty, and industry partners with the tools to power the enterprises of the future. By having the center available on campus, SMU hopes to encourage the use of high-performance computing and attract more external research funding.
Housed inside Ford Hall will be the AT&T Center for Virtualization, the Dedman College Interdisciplinary Institute, the Visualization Lab, and newly relocated Hart eCenter.
Hart eCenter’s move to the university’s main campus brings SMU Guildhall, a globally ranked graduate game design program, with it. The news came last year following SMU’s announcement that its Plano campus was being put on the market.
Gary Brubaker, Guildhall’s director, didn’t predict the venue change would hinder any of Guildhall’s work with major developers in the gaming industry. “SMU Guildhall collaborates with studios worldwide. Texas and Dallas have a thriving ecosystem of game developers that partner with us,” he told Dallas Innovates in March 2018. “With this move, we will be closer to some and a bit farther from others.” READ MORE