The Indiana University School of Informatics and Purdue University School of Engineering and Technology have forged a partnership to strengthen their research and internship programmes
The schools, located at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, have signed a memorandum of understanding to establish the CyberInformatics Lab.
The agreement calls for shared office and laboratory space, and a visiting researcher position at CyberLab.
The CyberInformatics Laboratory will be a component of the IUPUI CyberLab.
CyberLab, located near the IUPUI campus, is an advanced information technology research and development facility.
Its faculty researchers and student interns have developed Web tools such as Oncourse, Angel and Epsilen, currently at use at IU.
Angel is commercially licensed to hundreds of institutions worldwide.
The CyberInformatics agreement was approved by IUPUI executive vice chancellor William Plater; School of Informatics executive associate dean Darrell Bailey; and Oner Yurtseven, dean of the Purdue School of Engineering and Technology.
Specifically, it designates Bailey and Ali Jafari as Purdue professor of computer and information technology and CyberLab director, as co-principal investigators and authorizes them to develop grant proposals and secure funding for the new CyberInformatics research projects.
"This agreement pools the dynamic missions of two schools and the innovative talent of their researchers and students," says Bailey.
"This is an opportunity that propels the School of Informatics even further as the leader in information technology education and research." The CyberInformatics Lab will offer undergraduate students unique opportunities they cannot get anywhere else.
"Engaging undergraduate interns in applied research and development projects at the IUPUI CyberLab and the new CyberInformatics laboratory provides our students extensive internship working experiences making them ready for the new challenging job market," adds Yurtseven.
Students selected for internships will participate in "real-life" research and development projects that are intended to market as commercial products, notes Jafari.
"The CyberLab and CyberInformatics projects include conceptualization, invention and the development of new innovative projects such as course management systems, electronic portfolios, learning portals and intelligent agents software," Jafari says.
