Architectural Rendering of the Center of Excellence
Facility
Center of Excellence in Wireless and Information
Technology (CEWIT) Receives Early Funding
Note: As
this page "goes
live," word has been received that the Empire State Development
Corp. Board of Directors has approved the release of $47.7 million for
the construction of a 100,000 s.f. facility for the New York State Center
of Excellence in Wireless and Information Technology (CEWIT); it will
be the first facility built on the new 245-acre Stony Brook Research
and Development Campus adjacent to the University on land acquired late
last year. At the strong
urging of industry partners, the Center of Excellence in Wireless and
Information Technology received $2.2 million in advance State funding
(complemented by industry, sponsor and campus funds and in-kind donations)
for early acquisition of critical research equipment, which will be installed
temporarily in existing space to kick off Center research programs prior
to construction of the facility that will house the Center. In the last
three years, almost $25 million in gifts have been received and faculty
affiliates of Center programs have earned almost $40 million in competitive
federal research awards. These include fifteen new faculty members whose
areas of research directly support the Center’s
mission. One of these projects, with million-dollar federal support,
is developing implantable wireless sensor technology to identify biomarkers
associated with cancer in minute quantities directly at the site of their
production in the body – and
therefore at an early stage – and remotely trigger a therapeutic
response, delivering medication in situ. This multi-disciplinary breakthrough
in the application of leading-edge IT to provide leading-edge biomedical
treatment will also minimize toxicity by utilizing an intelligent sensor
to deliver the drug only to the malignant site, only when needed. Center-inspired
innovations are being readied for commercialization: some 11 U.S. patents
have been issued in areas of Center research focus, and more than 20
additional patent applications are pending. These technology innovations
include facilitating the WAN-LAN handoff, ad hoc routing for rapidly
deployable wireless networks, and wireless video.