Old Westbury, NY – NYIT professors are using wireless technology to make connections between healthcare, education, and engineering with the help of a federal grant to enhance the curriculum of electrical and computer engineering.

The National Science Foundation awarded a $135,000 grant that allows students to explore the potential of wireless technology in biomedical applications. Professors will teach students theoretical and practical aspects of wireless technology by integrating the concepts into electrical and computer engineering courses. Students will then develop design projects to solve real-world problems, such as wireless networked human body monitoring systems.

"This project will produce an exemplary curriculum in wireless communications and networking at NYIT with significant potential to be replicated by other universities," said project coordinator Tao Zhang, Ph.D., associate professor of electrical and computer engineering. "Among the anticipated outcomes, the enhanced curriculum will better prepare NYIT engineering graduates, especially women, for entering the 21st-century engineering workforce."

Zhang will be working with Michael Colef, Ph.D., associate professor and chairperson of the electrical and computer engineering department, Sarah McPherson, Ph.D., associate professor and chairperson of the instructional technology department, and Wolfgang Gilliar, D.O., professor and chair of NYCOM's osteopathic manipulative medicine department.

Through this project, students will gain hands-on knowledge of the growing field of wireless technology. Another goal of this project is to motivate undergraduate engineering students to pursue future research and careers in wireless communications and networking, emphasizing innovations in healthcare. Meanwhile, the project will make a special effort to attract female students.

NYIT is collaborating with City College of the City University of New York, University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez, University of Texas at Dallas, and University of North Texas at Denton.

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About NYIT

New York Institute of Technology (NYIT) offers 90 degree programs, including undergraduate, graduate, and professional degrees, in more than 50 fields of study, including architecture and design; arts and sciences; education; engineering and computing sciences; health professions; management; and osteopathic medicine. A non-profit independent, private institution of higher education, NYIT has 14,000 students attending campuses on Long Island and Manhattan, online, and at its global campuses. NYIT sponsors 11 NCAA Division II programs and one Division I team.

Led by President Edward Guiliano, NYIT is guided by its mission to provide career-oriented professional education, offer access to opportunity to all qualified students, and support applications-oriented research that benefits the larger world. To date, 89,000 graduates have received degrees from NYIT. For more information, visit nyit.edu.

Briana Samuels
Communications Specialist
516.686.1354