Wireless and Information Technology Center Is Ready to Power Up
After years of planning and progress, the University’s Center of Excellence in Wireless and Information Technology (CEWIT) is about to open officially. The Center conducted its fifth International Conference on Cutting Edge and Wireless Technologies on October 16, which was highlighted by a well-attended reception in the brand-new CEWIT headquarters in the Stony Brook Research and Technology Park. The conference attracted participants and presenters from all over the world.
The Center’s three-fold mission is to create interdisciplinary research collaborations between Stony Brook scientists and technology companies around the world, promote commercialization of discoveries, and spur economic development. CEWIT Executive Director Satya Sharma noted that the New York metropolitan area has the highest number of software professionals in the nation, as well as the combined resources of the University, Brookhaven National Laboratory, and Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, which make this region a center for technological and scientific talent.
“CEWIT is a partnership between the academic, government, and private industry sectors, and leadership from all three areas agreed the Center should be established at Stony Brook,” said Sharma.
The Center will continue to conduct world-class research in emerging technologies and will guide the research through a rapid commercialization process. This will help create more jobs and prosperity for New York State. In just the past two years, CEWIT staff has obtained 12 patents.
What is CEWIT About?
Though CEWIT projects cover a broad spectrum of wireless and information technologies, four areas will receive particular emphasis: health care systems, transportation and logistics, financial services, and mobile commerce systems. Other research areas include homeland security applications, high-speed computing, cyber-security, radio and digital communications, and 3-D visualization.
CEWIT also encourages young people to pursue careers in science, technology, and engineering. The Center’s OPLITE (Outreach Program for Long Island Technology Education) program visits schools to talk to student and parent groups about technology careers and matches students with corporate and academic mentors. OPLITE also holds technology career fairs, which beginning this year, will be held at the new headquarters.
CEWIT is also the only non-Microsoft host site in the entire country for the Microsoft DigiGirlz Summer Camp. DigiGirlz is a national program that educates and inspires girls to consider high-tech career opportunities. The DigiGirlz curriculum includes instruction for young women about computer applications, discussions of jobs and leadership in technology, and tips on how to surf the Web safely.
“Young women need to hear about technology careers from women already working in these fields, and DigiGirlz is the perfect venue,” said CEWIT Director of Industrial Outreach and OPLITE Coordinator Scott Passeser.
During the coming weeks, CEWIT staff will move from temporary quarters in the Heavy Engineering Building on campus to the new 100,000-square-foot building in the University’s Research and Technology Park. The new facility includes many new research and development laboratories for CEWIT’s 65 researchers and 200 graduate students. The Center will also house several start-up companies, which will work closely with CEWIT researchers to bring technologies to market.
