"It's a good building," said René Algiene, "a good structural building." He stepped into the cage that would carry him and fellow ironworker David Creek up to the top of the four-story Siebel Center for Computer Science.  Below, his fellow members of Ironworkers Local 380, other craftsmen, and University of Illinois officials watched the crane lift the men 100 feet to the structural steel skeleton of the massive building's roof.

Once in place and with safety lines clipped, the two men watched the massive crane dip to the ground again and lift a gleaming white beam toward them--a beam that balanced an American flag at one end, a potted tree on the other, and between them bore the signatures of the ironworkers who had erected the second-largest building on the engineering campus.

Within a few minutes, Algiene and Creek had fastened the 21-foot beam into place with eight 3/4-inch bolts.

"Give 'em a hand!" someone shouted, and the audience gathered on Mathews Avenue began to clap.  It was 11:35 a.m. on Monday, August 26, 2002, and the ironworkers' traditional Topping-Out Ceremony for Siebel Center was complete.

The Topping-Out Ceremony is an ancient custom of the construction industry, a remnant of medieval Europe when structures were made of wood and trees were inhabited by forest gods that needed propitiation.  Today the custom is carried on by ironworkers on major structures such as skyscrapers and bridges.  "Now, though, instead of cutting down a perfectly good tree, we use a live tree and plant it," said John Campbell of J. P. Cullen and Sons, the ironworking subcontractor on the building.  A 4-foot limber pine will be planted on the Siebel Center site during landscaping of the completed building.

The 250,000-square-foot Thomas M. Siebel Center for Computer Science was made possible by a $32 million gift from alumnus Tom Siebel (AB LAS '75, MBA '83, MSCS '85), founder, chairman, and CEO of Siebel Systems, Inc. Its construction is on a fast track, with completion expected in mid-2003.

Siebel Center is designed to reshape the nature of computing education and research at one of the country's oldest, largest, and most highly ranked computer science departments.  The building itself will serve as a laboratory for students and researchers to explore and evaluate 21st century computing.

"The ability to make this contribution to my alma mater is a deeply rewarding milestone for me," said Siebel. "The University of Illinois provided the crucial foundation for my career and I am pleased to support the university's leadership in the field of computer science, by helping to fund the construction of state-of-the-art facilities conducive to cutting-edge research."

Siebel Center will epitomize the smart buildings of the 21st century, containing the latest technology for mobile com-puting, distributed collaboration, and intelligent interaction. Each floor has been designed to promote learning, research, and collaboration.

The building, located north of Stoughton Street between Mathews and Goodwin avenues in Urbana, will be home to about 2,000 undergraduate and graduate computer science students, as well as 100 faculty members and researchers.  The new facility will enable the department to accommodate the high demand for computing-savvy graduates, while adding new faculty members and embracing new research areas.