Angelo State acquires former USAA building

San Angelo—Angelo State University purchased the vacant building at 2320 Sunset Drive, which previously housed the local USAA financial center, and officially named the facility "The Nexus at Angelo State."

"Getting the Texas Tech University System Board of Regents' approval to purchase the building enables us to expand our Kay Bailey Hutchinson Center's mission and strengthen collaboration with local and industry partners," ASU president Ronnie Hawkins said. "This will also support our efforts to introduce innovative technologies like Artificial Intelligence into our teaching and learning."

In addition to housing the Kay Bailey Hutchison Center, The Nexus at Angelo State will be the first fixed location for ASU's Innovation and Research Hub (IRH), as well as the new home for ASU's Regional Security Operations Center (RSOC), with plenty of room remaining to house future campus initiatives in research, innovation, and community and industry collaboration.

"There are several thousand square feet of raised, cooled floor space in the building, which is what you would find in a data facility," said Dr. Don Topliff, provost and vice president for academic affairs. "The building has excellent electrical service and backup generator capacity for everything we have planned. The basic infrastructure is already in place that will allow us to more efficiently install the computer servers, lab equipment and collaboration areas needed to further our current and future objectives. The Nexus at Angelo State will be the base for a variety of initiatives that will empower ASU students, faculty and partners to explore bold new ideas and develop real-world solutions."

Locating the Kay Bailey Hutchison Center for Cyber Intelligence, Innovation, and Security Studies to The Nexus at Angelo State will provide the space and resources for the center to expand its mission of support across many more disciplines and initiatives.

Angelo State's IRH was introduced in fall 2023, utilizing grant funding from the National Science Foundation, and it serves as the focal point for research collaboration within the university and with external industry partners. It also supports ASU's extensive faculty, student and industry partner research programs in all academic disciplines, as well as ongoing efforts to increase enrollment, retention and graduation of students in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields.

The ultimate goal of the IRH is to employ all of these collaborative research initiatives to promote economic and workforce development for the region, the state and the nation.

Angelo State's RSOC, the first in the state, provides cybersecurity services to local, regional and state entities with the goal of strengthening the region's cybersecurity posture. It employs more than a dozen certified security analysts and over 30 ASU student analysts while also offering paid student internships. Its customer base includes cities, counties, independent school districts, nonprofit agencies and critical infrastructure in the West Texas region.

The RSOC is currently housed in the ASU Vincent Building while awaiting relocation to The Nexus at Angelo State.

SOURCE Angelo State University