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The New York University Center for Advanced Technology was
founded in 1993 with the goal of accelerating the development
and dissemination of multimedia technologies and applications.
Designated one of fifteen New York State Centers for Advanced
Technology by the New York State Office of Science, Technology
& Academic Research, the Center uses its multimedia technology
expertise to augment the efforts of faculty, staff, and researchers
working in new media. The Center is a focal point for partnerships
among NYU faculty, the wider academic community, and leading
members of industry. Working with companies and organizations
in information technologies, finance, education, entertainment,
and communications, the Center develops multimedia technologies,
tools, services, and products.
Organization Overview
The New York University Center for Advanced Technology (CAT)
plays a unique role in the life of the university. It is an
umbrella for three blocks of activities: (1) it facilitates
activities in several research organizations; (2) it provides
a platform for discussions regarding technology and its impact,
and (3) it promotes economic development in the greater New
York area.
Within the University
The CAT provides a seamless interface between academic research
in the university and the uses of technologies. Basic research
takes place in university-based research laboratories and
departments. Some of this research is carried out in partnership
with academic and industrial laboratories throughout the world.
The CAT stimulates these activities, develops demonstrable
prototypes based on selected technologies, tests uses of these
technologies, captures feedback needed for further technology
enhancement, and then facilitates their use inside and outside
of NYU.
The CAT provides support for a set of loosely allied research
groups within the University, thus developing the kinds of
synergies that enable the multi-disciplinary nature of a university
to flourish. The following examples illustrate the types of
activities being carried out in some of these research groups.
· The Media Research Lab is co-managed by the CAT and
the Computer Science Department. It has a long-established
record for carrying out research relating to multimedia and
its applications, and it is generally recognized as having
on of the premier academic graphics departments in the country.
Work within the Lab has included such topics as: development
of animation technologies, 3-D displays, and alternative interfaces
for electronic devices.
· The Digital Economy Initiative at the Stern School
of Business carries out business related research regarding
the digital economy, its components and its impact. Projects
include: analyses of competitive strategies, the formation
and analysis of electronic communities, data mining and knowledge
discovery, and leveraging data to improve economic value.
Additional NYU collaborations are taking place with the School
of Medicine (digital libraries, computer-based education,
virtual microscopy), the School of Dentistry (virtual anatomy),
and the Library (digital library). International research
partnerships include: SmartLabs (UK), WAAG (Netherlands),
and the Interactive Institute (Sweden). Industrial research
partnerships include: Microsoft and CCS (Japan). Within the
near future we expect to be able to announce that research
partnerships with the NYU Center for Teaching Excellence,
Educational Testing Service and Hewlett-Packard are fully
operational.
The fruits of these activities are already self-evident.
They have been important factors in attracting world-class
faculty to NYU. They have also attracted new research funding
into the University.
Discussion Platforms
The Center for Advanced Technology supports a broad range
of activities designed to foster discussions regarding technology,
its uses and its role in the economy and society. These activities
include partial support for the informal colloquia held with
the Center for Law and Technology, an on-going forum bringing
together NYU faculty teaching technology-related subjects,
as well as sponsoring or co-sponsoring seminars and speakers
in various parts of the University. This activity is likely
to be expanded to include collaboration with the Center for
Teaching Excellence in an on-going colloquium on effective
use of educational technologies.
Business and Economic Development
A portion of the CAT's activities focuses upon business and
economic development. Supported by a major grant from New
York State, the CAT works to help accelerate the transfer
of technologies into the New York economy and to encourage
non-New York technology companies to increase their local
involvement.
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