$14m computer block open at Auckland University

By SIMON COLLINS science reporter

Auckland University's fast-growing computer science department is celebrating the end of the computer industry downturn by opening a $14 million building.

The department, with 1300 equivalent fulltime students, is the university's biggest and has more than doubled in the past six years. Graduate student numbers jumped by 50 per cent this year alone.

The department's new glass-fronted, seven-storey building on Wellesley St includes three floors of laboratories containing 600 computers.

Department head Professor John Hosking said growth in undergraduate numbers flattened this year because of the worldwide "dotcom" crash, but he expected numbers to be up again next year. "My industry sources tell me that they are hiring again and the sector is picking up," he said.

The impact of the IT downturn on overseas computer science departments had been declines of up to 50 per cent.

The building is part of a $200 million expansion of the university.