By Ron Brachman, Chief Scientist & Head of Yahoo Labs Here’s a recipe for awesome: Take 200 amazing engineering students and faculty of Howard University in Washington, D.C. Add:

• 1 big purple truck
• 125 servers
• A little bit of purple paint
• A whole lot of excitement

Mix together on a beautiful October day, and voilà: a brand new, first-in-class Yahoo Data Center @ Howard University!

(Check out more awesome photos!) We were so pleased to donate 125 servers to power the brand new Yahoo Data Center at Howard University earlier today. Our big purple truck pulled up to Howard this morning and offloaded the 125 servers, donations from our Data Center Operations team. We launched our academic server donation program three years ago to help power the great innovation coming out of key U.S. computer science research programs at the university level. Since our launch, we have donated about 2,500 servers to more than thirty institutions around the world. The faculty and students of Howard’s Computer Learning and Design Center (CLDC) are doing some impressive technological research, including human-computer interaction, database security, artificial intelligence and mobile engineering. Dating back to its founding in 1911, Howard’s College of Engineering, Architecture and Computer Sciences (CEACS) has led the effort to increase the number of minorities, particularly African Americans, in fields including engineering and computer science. Just this year, Howard University was ranked as the national top producer of African-American bachelor’s degree recipients who went on to earn science and engineering doctoral degrees in the United States. Our team joined Howard University Provost Dr. Wayne A. I. Frederick and Howard University Dean Lorraine Fleming, Ph.D., PE to cut the ribbon on the new Yahoo Data Center. Howard decked out the data center with a fresh coat of purple paint and ournew logo to mark the occasion. These new servers represent a significant equipment upgrade to maximize operating performance and speed for students and faculty alike. We then had the pleasure of participating in an event to mark the occasion with Howard University computer science students and faculty. Tekedra N. Mawakana, Global Head of Public Policy for Yahoo, underscored the importance of this donation to mark Yahoo’s commitment to the local Washington, D.C. community. LaFawn Bailey represented our talent acquisition team and introduced the talented computer science students of Howard to our company culture, emphasizing our focus on attracting and retaining the best talent from around the world to help us in our mission of making people’s daily habits inspiring and entertaining. We had so much fun connecting with the students and faculty of Howard University today and we’re excited to strengthen our relationship into the future. From: Yahoo's Tumblr