EERC_croppedQualcomm Inc. has donated $1 million to the University of Texas’ Cockrell School of Engineering for its new Engineering Education and Research Center.

The Qualcomm gift will provide funding for the new home of UT Austin’s Wireless Networking and Communications Group in the new engineering center, which opens in 2017.

The new space will be called the Qualcomm Wireless Networking and Communications Research Neighborhood. It will have 20 faculty members and 130 graduate and undergraduate students and numerous researchers and industry partners.

“Qualcomm’s gift will bring the innovative work of WNCG’s students and faculty to the heart of campus,” Sanjay Shakkottai, professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and director of WNCG, said in a news release. “With more space and sophisticated equipment, we will be able to expand partnerships and explore new methods that lead to more breakthrough discoveries.”