Old Westbury, NY – New York Institute of Technology has received a $230,000 grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to purchase a direct current/radio frequency (DC/RF) sputtering system to support multi-disciplinary research on medical sensors, micro power generators, miniaturized flexible tag antennas, and bioengineering applications and implementations.

"This grant represents a number of firsts for our university—it is the first NSF Major Research Instrumentation (MRI) grant that NYIT has received, and we will house it in the very first clean room to be fabricated in Nassau County," said Rahmat Shoureshi, Ph.D., provost and vice president for academic affairs at NYIT. "We've reached a whole new level in our engineering research expertise. NYIT is taking the lead in the scholarship of discovery and advanced pedagogy in strategically selected key areas that will result in new technologies and educated talents for the region's economic growth."

The new system, which will be located on NYIT's Old Westbury campus this fall, enables the hardware implementation of theoretical research results in the fields of nano and micro electro-mechanical systems (NEMS and MEMS), nano/micro-scale fabrication  and technology development, biotechnology, microwave technology, and photonic technology.

"NYIT's research will focus on the development of wireless body area networks (WBANs) for reliable data acquisition in patient diagnosis and health monitoring scenarios, in the comfort of patients home while conducting normal daily activities," explained Tao Zhang, Ph.D., associate professor of computer science in NYIT's School of Engineering and Computing Sciences and principal investigator for the grant. The in-demand WBANs, which are wearable or implanted miniature sensors that measure heartbeat, temperature, and other vitals, provide constant monitoring and care in an unobtrusive manner by sending this medical data to healthcare practitioners via the Internet. They also offer potential and significant health-care cost savings.

"This cutting-edge technology will provide our faculty and students invaluable hands-on educational and research opportunities at the interface of engineering and medicine at both the undergraduate and graduate levels," said Nada Anid, Ph.D., dean of NYIT's School of Engineering and Computing Sciences. "With the help of this grant, nanotechnology, advanced materials science, and the microfabrication of labs-on-a-chip, implantable or wearable devices and sensors, are going to be integrated in the programs and engineering courses we offer at NYIT."

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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 more than 12,000 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, nearly 100,000 graduates have received degrees from NYIT. For more information, visit nyit.edu.

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