The University of Notre Dame opened its Palo Alto facility on Feb. 10 and held its first classes for the Notre Dame (SVS) program there on Thursday (Feb. 16).

The facility, home to , was constructed in an AT&T building in downtown Palo Alto. It combines a state-of-the-art teaching space with room for 55 students, flexible and open “innovation space,” two conference rooms, an office and access to a larger conference room and a break area, the latter two spaces shared with building owner AT&T. The facility supports multiple two-way video streams — a key component of the instructional model for several of the SVS courses underway.

The collaboration with AT&T on this space was established by Notre Dame alumnus John Donovan, chief strategy officer and group president of AT&T Technology and Operations. “Mr. Donovan’s team worked extensively with the Notre Dame California team on the layout, design, construction and equipping of the space,” said , Duda Family Professor of Engineering and interim director of Notre Dame California. “That a project of this size and scope could be executed so quickly, from concept to completion, in a building that is so significant to AT&T’s Silicon Valley operations is a testimony to the growing collaboration between AT&T and the University.”

“Notre Dame’s commitment to its students, faculty and a comprehensive learning experience helps define it as a forward-looking university,” said Donovan. “This facility builds on last year’s announced online master’s degree in data science collaboration, and we are thrilled to support the University’s mission here.”

The renovation and furnishing were funded by AT&T, which is allowing Notre Dame to use the facility. Notre Dame California staff members Flynn, Kaci Kelly, talent and employer relations specialist, and Jessica Rizzo, regional director of development, will use this space as their home office in the state. In addition to classroom offerings, the Palo Alto facility will host individuals and groups of visitors from the South Bend campus, meetings of the Notre Dame California Advisory Board, groups of students visiting from South Bend and other events.

At a future date, the Palo Alto facility will be formally dedicated with a Notre Dame leadership delegation in attendance along with Notre Dame California staff, advisory board members and representatives from AT&T.

Some 175 years after Rev. Edward Sorin, C.S.C., trekked through the frozen Indiana wilderness to found the University of Notre Dame, 10 Notre Dame juniors majoring in computer science and engineering have begun their own journey to the University’s next frontier: Silicon Valley.

They are the first participants in Notre Dame California’s new (SVS), through which they will spend the next four months immersed in the heart of innovation while still enjoying an experience that is uniquely Notre Dame.

“Our top priority is to ensure these 10 students get the most out of their semester in the Valley, both in the classroom and out in the marketplace,” said , Duda Family Professor of and interim director of . “Beyond that, we plan to use the lessons learned during the inaugural Silicon Valley Semester to expand the program to a broad set of majors in the coming years. Our goal is to increase enrollment in the SVS to 40 or more juniors in 2018, and we hope to launch similar semester-long undergraduate experiences in Los Angeles, San Diego and Orange County in future years.”

SVS students combine a full-time academic course load with a credit-bearing internship. Kaci Kelly, Notre Dame’s talent and employer relations specialist, has worked closely with some of the most dynamic companies in Silicon Valley — companies such as Stryker, a leader in medical technology; Stellar Solutions, a global provider of systems engineering expertise; Kyndi, an intelligent machines technology company; and OpsPanda, a leader in software-as-a-service applications for sales resource planning — to develop the internships.

“We are thrilled to collaborate with Notre Dame,” said Katie Grau, Stryker’s senior university recruiter. “In our program we look for interns who are driven, passionate and want to be on the cutting edge of technology. At Stryker we continue to be impressed with the quality of students from Notre Dame and look forward to strengthening the partnership further.”

Hung Vo, chief technology officer and co-founder of OpsPanda, said, “The Notre Dame internship program is a great opportunity for OpsPanda to engage new talent to help shape the next generation of sales resource planning. The candidates were so strong that we selected multiple interns who will join our artificial intelligence team and work on our toughest problems.”

Courses, which meet on Tuesdays and Thursdays in order to maximize internship and other enrichment opportunities the rest of the week, are using several teaching platforms during the inaugural SVS. Flynn is teaching “Programming Paradigms” in person, while Associate Professor and , Ted H. McCourtney Professor of , are delivering “Operating Systems” and “Theory of Computing,” respectively, via two-way live video. David Cieslak, who received his Ph.D. from Notre Dame and is vice president of data science at Aunalytics, is offering “Data Science” through Notre Dame’s ; doctoral student is doing the same with “Introduction to the First Amendment: Freedom of Speech in the Digital Age.”

Classes are meeting initially at Menlo College, a four-year college in Atherton, California, and will move to Notre Dame’s new Palo Alto facility once construction is complete in February.

This first cohort of SVS students is living on Menlo’s campus thanks to a collaboration with Steven Weiner, the college’s executive vice president. Throughout the semester, SVS students will be exposed to all California has to offer through extracurricular opportunities curated and offered by Notre Dame; these will include cultural events, professional development activities, service to the community, meetings with alumni and friends of Notre Dame, and sporting events.

Established by the , Notre Dame California promotes academic activity and outreach across the Golden State. In addition to the Silicon Valley Semester, it is facilitating the development of graduate programs, enhancing career and placement services and strengthening research, entrepreneurship, commercialization and alumni engagement.