MIT Schwarzman College of Computing: Shaping the Future of Computing and AI

The MIT Stephen A. Schwarzman College of Computing is a computing college at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Announced in 2018, the college is an Institute-wide academic unit that works alongside MIT's five Schools of Architecture and Planning; Engineering; Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences; Science; and Management, to address the growing applications of computing technology. The college emphasizes artificial intelligence research, interdisciplinary applications of computing, and social and ethical responsibilities of computing and aims to be an interdisciplinary hub for work in artificial intelligence, computer science, data science, and related fields.

Origin and Purpose

In response to the rise of artificial intelligence (AI) and computing technology, MIT President L. Rafael Reif announced the creation of the MIT Schwarzman College of Computing on October 15, 2018. The establishment of the college represents the most significant structural change to MIT since the early 1950s when the schools for management and for the humanities and social sciences were launched. The college was named after Stephen A. Schwarzman, the chairman, CEO, and cofounder of Blackstone, a global private equity and asset management firm, whose $350 million gift formed the main part of the college's funding. The college was shaped by a several-year-long conversation between Reif and Schwarzman prior to the donation, where the two raised questions on the potential of AI and its future impacts on society.

The mission of the MIT Stephen A. Schwarzman College of Computing is to address the opportunities and challenges of the computing age - from hardware, to software, to algorithms, to artificial intelligence (AI) - by transforming the capabilities of academia in three key areas: supporting the rapid evolution and growth of computer science and AI; facilitating collaborations between computing and other disciplines; and focusing on social and ethical responsibilities of computing through combining technological approaches and insights from social science and humanities, and through engagement beyond academia.

Leadership and Launch

On February 21, 2019, MIT announced Daniel P. Huttenlocher as the inaugural dean of the college. The college was celebrated with a three-day event named "Hello World, Hello MIT" from February 26-28, 2019, featuring panel discussions, an academic symposium, and talks from several notable figures.

Academic and Research Focus

The MIT Schwarzman College of Computing is designed to take MIT’s computing programs to the next level by facilitating the rapid evolution of computing education and research programs, improving collaboration between computing and other disciplines, and advancing the study and practice of social and ethical responsibilities of computing. The college’s unique structure is at once, both cross-cutting across all of MIT, and a focused home for computer science and artificial intelligence education and research - strengthening the computing fields and more effectively and creatively connecting AI and computing to every discipline.

The college emphasizes artificial intelligence research, interdisciplinary applications of computing, and the social and ethical responsibilities of computing. It aims to be an interdisciplinary hub for work in artificial intelligence, computer science, data science, and related fields. The college will nearly double MIT’s academic capability in computing and AI. MIT aims to help students become “bilingual”-adept in computing as well as in their primary field.

The Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS), the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL), the Institute for Data, Systems, and Society (IDSS), and the MIT Quest for Intelligence are all expected to become part of the new college; other units may join. EECS will continue to have a strong relationship with the School of Engineering.

The MIT Schwarzman College will build on MIT’s legacy of excellence in computation and the study of intelligence. The new college is meant to be not only a center of innovation in computing but also a place for teaching and research on relevant policy and ethics to better ensure that the groundbreaking technologies of the future are responsibly implemented in support of the greater good.

Social and Ethical Responsibilities of Computing (SERC)

Brian Hedden, professor in the Department of Linguistics and Philosophy, holding an MIT Schwarzman College of Computing shared position with MIT EECS, has been appointed co-associate dean of the Social and Ethical Responsibilities of Computing (SERC). Hedden’s research examines how we ought to form beliefs and make decisions, drawing on philosophical accounts of rationality to inform contemporary ethical questions, including the ethics of AI. He joins co-associate dean Nikos Trichakis.

The mission of the MIT Stephen A. Social and ethical aspects of computing: Lead the development of and changes in academic research and education, and effectively inform practice and policy in industry and government.

Read also: Schwarzman Scholars

Curriculum and Courses

The MIT Schwarzman College of Computing curriculum has been crafted and tested to ensure you leave the program with the skills you need to launch a rewarding new career. Part-time courses include AI & Automation for the Enterprise.

The Common Ground for Computing Education, an initiative of the MIT Schwarzman College of Computing, offers classes that blend computing with other fields students are studying. These courses help you become “bilingual” in both computing and your discipline. To spot a Common Ground class, look for the “.C” in course numbers. For example, 9.C20/16.C20/18.C20 (Introduction to Computational Science and Engineering) shows that four departments collaborated on this course.

One such course blends computer science and philosophy so students can explore concepts like rational agency, decision-making, and how assumptions from different fields shape our understanding of intelligence.

Funding and Resources

MIT announced a new $1 billion initiative to address the global opportunities and challenges in computing and artificial intelligence-the single largest investment in computing and AI by an American academic institution. At the heart of this endeavor will be the new MIT Stephen A. Schwarzman College of Computing, made possible by a $350 million gift from Schwarzman, the chairman, CEO, and cofounder of Blackstone, a global private equity and asset management firm.

On top of Schwarzman’s gift, MIT has raised an additional $300 million for the initiative, totaling $650 million of the $1 billion required. That amount is needed to fund construction of the new building, an endowment for the 50 new faculty positions, and computing resources to support teaching and research in the college and across MIT.

Read also: Global Leadership Programs

As for MIT Schwarzman College of Computing tuition, all MIT Schwarzman College of Computing courses cost $2,600. But the cost of MIT Schwarzman College of Computing courses shouldn’t be the only thing you consider.

New Building

Headquartered in a new building on campus, the MIT Schwarzman College of Computing will be an interdisciplinary hub for work in computer science, AI, data science, and related fields. The college is slated to open in September 2019, with the new building scheduled to be completed in 2022.

The Stephen A. Schwarzman College of Computing building, designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM), is a state-of-the-art space for education, research, and collaboration to foster the training of computer scientists as well as students in various other programs.

Situated on Vassar Street-once the northern edge of the campus, and now a central thoroughfare as MIT expands-the building conveys a welcoming disposition and versatile environment for students and faculty. Contrasting with its brick and concrete neighbors, the SCC is conceived as twin pavilions clad in large glass shingles that extend beyond the building enclosure. These shingles establish a monumental presence while also playing a major role in the architecture’s sustainability strategy. Each shingle is composed of multiple layers, with double-skin glass on the outside and triple-insulated glass on the inside, to create a thermal buffer during the winter and reflect the sun in the summer.

Levels three through seven bring together student and faculty spaces across the building’s full footprint. Two-story “social kitchens” serve as the heart of these floors, with stairs overlooking each double-height space to stitch these research neighborhoods together. Beyond these central zones, faculty offices line the perimeter of the building, along with collaboration suites, conference rooms, and both dry and damp labs within.

The building faces south, where sunlight is strongest. SOM evaluated a broad range of facade systems to find a solution that would provide both transparency and energy efficiency. Collaborating with Arup, the technical team modeled the performance of a closed cavity system, in which layers of flat glass and protruding glass work in tandem to regulate the interior temperature. The key to the facade system’s performance is the space between the layers: every shingle is connected to a piping system that pressurizes the empty spaces with de-humidified compressed air. That compressed air keeps dust and, most importantly, moisture away from the building-preventing outdoor conditions, whether it’s hot and humid or dry and cold, from impacting the temperature indoors.

As the most complex part of the building, SOM designed and specified the facade before completing the structure and interior. Constructability was enhanced by a design-assist process, where the technical designers worked with the contractor and fabricators before a construction document was drawn. SOM, Suffolk Construction, and fabricators at Permasteelisa and Gartner worked together to use as little material as possible, developing an almost invisible frame with the strength to hold each shingle. Rather than supporting the protruding portions of the facade with visible, cantilevered brackets-a standard structural solution for a shingled facade-the team designed a thin steel mullion.

Regarding the front of the building, the architects came up with a simple sculptural solution: two elegant V-shaped trusses composed of I-beams enclosed in polished stainless steel. This look references mid-century architectural masters: the trusses set up strong focal points, which reinforces the impression of a dignified façade. In addition, the arrangement established a gracefully accessible relationship between the structure and the streetscape.

The interior of the structure is light-filled, and filled with flexible maker spaces. Entering the building, the first thing you see is a grand central stairway that includes stadium-like seating; there are cushions where students can individually work on their laptops, collaborate, or socialize. The architects conceived of the interior as a physically flexible environment; most of the building’s public areas are finished in American white oak. The interior was specifically designed to look raw, unfinished, and neutral. The idea was to create a flexible space where faculty and staff could easily modify - even rearrange - walls to better serve teaching and research needs.

Campus Development

The Schwarzman building is part of MIT’s 21st-century effort to build on its grounds structures designed by prestigious star architects. MIT President Susan Hockfield announced the goal: “The physical campus was not keeping pace with the leading-edge research of our scientists and engineers.” And it has been a success: the grounds of the institution showcase new architecturally significant academic buildings designed with the intention of promoting innovation as well as collaborative research and learning.

A major player in the campus building plan was the late William (Bill) Mitchell (1944-2010), an urban theorist and the former architecture and planning dean at MIT. He served as the chief architectural advisor to then-president Charles M. Vest and, in that role, Mitchell guided and orchestrated this ambitious higher education building program. In truth, it was more of metamorphosis than a program: it added nearly one million square feet to MIT’s 154-acre campus.

A major benefit of this campus reimagining has been its invigorating effect on adjacent Kendall Square and East Cambridge. Over recent years, this part of Cambridge has expanded into a still-evolving corporate center for cutting-edge medical and digital technology and research.

Controversies

The creation of the Schwarzman College of Computing led to several negative responses. A group of MIT students, faculty, and alumni issued a strong criticism against the university's decision to accept money from Schwarzman, deeming it to be unethical. From another perspective, some students questioned the societal value of MIT's focus on computing and AI. Viewing MIT administrators' emphasis on these technologies as a fad, they argued that MIT should instead promote research and education in areas that they believed to be more impactful. Outside of MIT, the Yale Daily News wrote that Schwarzman's donation to MIT "appeared to be a snub at Yale". The paper stated that an earlier donation to Yale for a $150 million Schwarzman Center led to similar controversies.

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