The Board of Regents approved the schematic drawing for the new Leinweber Computer Science and Information Building on North Campus in December 2021. The 163,000-square-foot building will, for the first time, bring together under one roof the School of Information (SI) and the computer science and engineering division of the College of Engineering (CoE). The $145 million building is slated to be completed in summer 2025.

In addition to being an innovative learning environment for students, the facility represents a convergence of disciplines that will strengthen collaboration, foster innovative research partnerships and help lead to the development of breakthrough technologies.

The CoE and SI have a long history of transformative collaboration. U-M’s legacy of leadership in computing and information dates back to the 1950s, when its graduate degree in computing was established, making it one of the first computing programs in the nation. Today, U-M continues to be on the cutting edge of advances in artificial intelligence, device architecture, human-computer interaction, social networks, quantum computing and data analysis.

In the last 10 years, the number of students enrolled in undergraduate and graduate programs in both the CoE and the SI has quadrupled, and the new building will provide much-needed space to meet the increasing demand for computer science and information graduates for research, industry and education. In addition, the new building will play a key role in U-M’s goal of carbon neutrality, as the university plans a phased campuswide transition to geothermal heating and cooling systems, beginning with this new building.

A $25 million gift from the Leinweber Foundation, founded by software entrepreneur Larry Leinweber, is helping to fund the new state-of-the-art facility.