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Since its inception in 2013, the Applied Research Innovations in Science and Engineering (ARISE) program at the NYU Tandon School of Engineering has been nurturing NYC’s best young STEM talent. The full-time, seven-week program offers college-level workshops and seminars for New York high school students, as well as high-level research experience in participating NYU faculty labs and mentoring by a graduate or postdoctoral student.

Budding researcher and Stuyvesant High School student Caleb Smith-Salzbergrecently joined a research team headed by Professor Shivendra Panwar that centers on innovations in wireless technologies. Never did he imagine that his first research paper would be accepted for publication and presentation at the 2017 IEEE INFOCOM, a top-ranked conference on networking sponsored by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.

Smith-Salzberg is the first-listed author of the paper, an honor that would be unusual even for an undergraduate student. In “Bridging the digital divide between research and home networks,” he and his co-authors describe efforts to make it easier for researchers to improve the performance of networked applications and services on real-world networks. Their tool, which makes test networks more representative of typical home broadband connections, debuted at IEEE INFOCOM’s International Workshop on Computer and Networking Experimental Research Using Testbeds (CNERT) on May 1, 2017 in Atlanta, Georgia. Smith-Salzberg and his ARISE mentor Fraida Fund, a doctoral candidate in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, also exhibited their work at NYU Tandon’s Research Expo in April.

Smith-Salzberg worked extensively last summer with Fund, who gives him due credit for his contributions. “He did most of the work developing the tool described in the paper over the summer, when he was working with us full-time,” Fund said. “Then, we worked on the paper draft together over the first half of this academic year. Every week, he came to Tandon once a week  after school, and we worked on the text together.”

Smith-Salzberg found his experience in the ARISE program gratifying and encourages anyone lucky enough to take part in the program to make the most of it. “I was treated by everyone at the lab as an equal member of the team,” he said. “I presented at the weekly meetings, and in my last week I presented to a larger group, which included Professor Panwar. This experience at a real workplace environment is very special, and there are not many programs that offer such an opportunity.”

Their research was supported by the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program, the New York State Center for Advanced Technology in Telecommunications (CATT), NYU Tandon School of Engineering’s Center for K-12 STEM Education, and the Pinkerton Foundation.

Dr. Roberto Padovani gave the prestigious Jack Keil Wolf Lecture on Wednesday in NYU Tandon’s brand new Makerspace. His presentation, “The Road to 5G,” focused on the standardization efforts the industry is making for next generation cellular technology or 5G.

Dr. Padovani is the Executive Vice President and Fellow at Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. He joined Qualcomm in 1986 and served as the company’s Chief Technology Officer from 2002 to 2011.

Jack Keil Wolf Lecture Series is in honor of an information theorist whose pivotal contributions to digital communication and data storage technology helped shape our networked world, was a member of the Electrical Engineering Department at New York University from 1963 to 1965, and the Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn (now NYU Tandon School of Engineering) from 1965 to 1973. Dr. Wolf was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 1993. He was the recipient of the 1990 E. H. Armstrong Achievement Award of the IEEE Communications Society and was co-recipient of the 1975 IEEE Information Theory Group Paper Award for the paper “Noiseless coding for correlated information sources” (co-authored with D. Slepian). He served on the Board of Governors of the IEEE Information Theory Group from 1970 to 1976 and from 1980 to 1986. Dr. Wolf was President of the IEEE Information Theory Group in 1974. He was International Chairman of Committee C of URSI from 1980 to 1983.

Tom Richardson is Vice President of Engineering and leads R&D at Qualcomm’s New Jersey Research Center. Dr. Richardson gave the prestigious Jack Keil Wolf Lecture at Center for Advanced Technology in Telecommunications (CATT) at NYU Tandon School of Engineering on “Liquid Cloud Storage: A New Approach to Large Scale Data Storage”.  He talked about new large-scale data storage technology developed by a Qualcomm team that handles reliable distributed storage systems consisting of hundreds to tens of thousands of potentially unreliable storage nodes. This solution, developed by his team, offers exceptional object durability, minimizes storage overhead and repair traffic, and provides fast predictable access to data objects.

Dr. Richardson’s main research area is iterative coding systems. He is a co-author, with Ruediger Urbanke, of a book on the subject, entitled “Modern Coding Theory” and was co-winner of the 2002 and the 2013 Information Theory Paper award.  He is a Fellow of the IEEE, co-winner of the 2011 IEEE Koji Kobayashi award and the 2014 IEEE Hamming medal, and a member of the National Academy of Engineering.

Jack Keil Wolf Lecture Series is in honor of an information theorist whose pivotal contributions to digital communication and data storage technology helped shape our networked world, was a member of the Electrical Engineering Department at New York University from 1963 to 1965, and the Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn (now NYU Tandon School of Engineering) from 1965 to 1973. Dr. Wolf was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 1993. He was the recipient of the 1990 E. H. Armstrong Achievement Award of the IEEE Communications Society and was co-recipient of the 1975 IEEE Information Theory Group Paper Award for the paper “Noiseless coding for correlated information sources” (co-authored with D. Slepian). He served on the Board of Governors of the IEEE Information Theory Group from 1970 to 1976 and from 1980 to 1986. Dr. Wolf was President of the IEEE Information Theory Group in 1974. He was International Chairman of Committee C of URSI from 1980 to 1983.

The New York State’s Empire State Development’s Division of Science, Technology and Innovation (NYSTAR) has renewed funding for one of its longest-running research centers, the Center for Advanced Technology in Telecommunications and Distributed Information Systems (CATT).

Part of the NYU Tandon School of Engineering, CATT promotes cutting-edge research and development programs based upon the industry standards and academic expertise. Its goal is to create economically viable new technology through entrepreneurship.

NYSTAR’s decision to renew funding for CATT demonstrates the State’s confidence in the center directed by Shivendra Panwar, professor and department chair in the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department at the NYU School of Engineering.

The $4.45 million — to be distributed to CATT over the next five years — will be used to fund projects in the center’s three main areas: wireless technology, cybersecurity, and data science.

Through the affiliated NYU WIRELESS research center, CATT will extend its efforts revolving around the emerging fifth generation (5G) cellular technology. The research in cybersecurity — conducted jointly with the NYU Center for Interdisciplinary Studies in Security and Privacy — will concentrate on resilient networks, particularly in finance. In response to the industry preoccupation with big data, the center will also continue to improve its work on media applications.

The New York State’s Empire State Development’s Division of Science, Technology and Innovation (NYSTAR) has renewed funding for one of its longest-running research centers, the Center for Advanced Technology in Telecommunications and Distributed Information Systems (CATT).

Part of the NYU Tandon School of Engineering, CATT promotes collaborative R&D between industry and researchers at New York University and Columbia University, with the goal of creating entrepreneurial and economically viable new technology. Shivendra Panwar, professor and department chair in the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department at NYU Tandon, directs the center. The five-year funding renewal will help CATT secure matching funds.

The $4.45 million will be used to focus on three main areas: wireless technology, cybersecurity, and data science. Through the affiliated NYU WIRELESS research center, CATT will continue its efforts centered on the emerging fifth generation (5G) cellular technology. In light of major hacking scandals, cybersecurity remains at the forefront of industry needs, and research will center on resilient networks, particularly for the financial industry. Data science has grown tremendously in importance as companies look for ways to get an advantage over competitors. In addition, CATT will continue to work in media applications.

Founded in 1983, CATT was one of the first Centers for Advanced Technology in the NYSTAR program. Over the years it has played a part in making Brooklyn’s MetroTech Center an important technology hub. More recently, CATT researchers played key roles in the growth of the Internet industry. It provided the foundation for the research center that evolved into NYU WIRELESS, recently ranked the world’s top university hub for 5G, and for the NYU Center for Interdisciplinary Studies in Security and Privacy, which expands the study of information security beyond technology to human, business, and societal issues.

“The CATT has played an important role in shaping the research culture of the NYU Tandon School of Engineering and furthering the transfer of technology from university laboratories to practical applications,” said NYU Tandon Dean and President Katepalli R. Sreenivasan. “Winning this funding amidst rigorous competition indicates the value placed by our sponsors on the work being done in our School. We congratulate Professor Shivendra Panwar and all the researchers of the CATT, and thank NYSTAR and the State of New York for their longtime support of this important economic engine.”

In addition to its three core research areas, CATT also helped provide a foundation for the NYC Media Lab, a consortium that includes the New York City Economic Development Corporation, New York University, Columbia University, The New School, CUNY, Pratt Institute, and industry partners. CATT’s experience partnering industry and academic research for economic development in the tech sector was particularly useful getting the funding proposal for the NYC Media Lab accepted. Panwar is its Faculty Director.

Current industry partners for CATT include InterDigital Inc., Consolidated Edison Company, Verizon, L3 Communications, IBM, American International Group (AIG), AT&T, MLB Advanced Media, Google, Intel Corporation, Samsung, McGraw Hill Global Education, and Boeing Company.

Polytechnic Institute of NYU’s Center for Advanced Technology in Telecommunications (CATT) will conduct its 27th annual Research Report this Friday, October 30. CATT research faculty will present research to board members and sponsors will outline the state of digital technology in some of the most promising areas of research: the smart grid needed for green energy; wireless infrastructure to deliver medical treatment; cyber security, and the future of digital media.

Faculty, students, journalists, and the public are invited to attend lectures and meet some of the leading industry and academic experts in the fields.

For 25 years, Polytechnic University’s Center for Advanced Technology in Telecommunications (CATT) has played a key role in developing the technologies that drive “the information age.” On Thursday, November 8, members of the Poly community and major IT and telecommunications companies gathered to celebrate those first 25 years, discuss current research, and take a look forward.

Since its inception as one of the original four Centers of Advanced Technology funded by The New York State Foundation for Science, Technology and Innovation (NYSTAR) and its predecessor, the Office for Science and Technology, CATT’s mission has been to stimulate economic development in the state of New York. CATT achieves its mission by commercializing new technologies through research, education, and community outreach.

CATT’s industry partnerships have led to breakthroughs in wireless communication, networking, cyber-security, and other areas impacting businesses and consumers. For example, its work in the early 1980s involving packet switching was essential to the development of the Internet. Today, its pioneering work in cooperative communications and peer-to-peer video streaming is set to be a part of the next wave of information sharing.

CATT’s 25th anniversary celebration included opening remarks by University Provost Erich Kunhardt, research presentations, and three panel discussions: “Cyber-security: Three Things that Keep You Up at Night,” “Wireless and the Convergence with Digital/Traditional Media” and “Entrepreneurship and High Technology in NYC.” The day concluded with an awards ceremony with remarks by University President Jerry Hultin, and a gala celebration dinner.

CATT 25th Anniversary Award Recipients
Technological Impact Award: AFP Imaging Corporation, InterDigital, Inc., Verizon Communication, Inc.
Innovation in Technology Award: Motorola, Inc., NYSE Euronext, Philips Research North America, Thomson Technology, LLC
Lifetime Technology Innovation Award: Henning Schulzrinne
Lifetime Entrepreneurial Achievement Award: Yechiam Yemini