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Working with industry to improve information systems
The Virginia Tech Information Systems Center (VISC) was formed in 1995 to enhance collaboration between faculty working in various areas of information systems research. VISC links specialists from computer engineering, computer science, and industrial and systems engineering. Our mission is to provide research and development services in the design and analysis of information systems. The Industrial Affiliates Program provides a means for VISC researchers to rapidly transfer new ideas, inventions, and technologies to industry, thus enabling our industrial partners to benefit from VISC’s expertise and continuing research. This transfer is accomplished through funded research, enhanced access to students, interaction with faculty and students, seminars and short courses, shared software, technical reports, and a newsletter. Industry financial support enables VISC to continually upgrade its state-of-the-art facilities and provides student research funds so we can continue to attract and train the best students in the world. Input from industry will help steer VISC into research areas that will be most profitable to our industrial partners in the years to come.
We give particular thanks to the following companies, which are current members of our affiliates program. Silver Level:
VISC members have expertise in many areas, as demonstrated by the long list of research areas in the following section. Out of this list, we wanted to highlight a few specialties in which VISC members work together to provide expertise, research ability, and instructional capabilities difficult to match elsewhere.
Design Aids and Automation Expertise in specification analysis, graphics-based design tools, hardware description languages, modeling, logic synthesis, low-power design, gate-level and behavioral test generation, design-for-testability, and test synthesis.
Rapid Prototyping and Configurable Computing Expertise in run-time reconfigurable computers and using configurable computing machines for signal processing, simulation acceleration, and computer graphics.
Computer Vision and Image Processing Expertise in on-line image analysis, three-dimensional scene analysis, active vision, high-speed architectures for image processing, and practical machine vision systems for industrial applications.
Networks and Multimedia Expertise in World Wide Web and Internet-based applications, performance evaluation and network simulation, wireless networks, and desktop video conferencing technology and applications.
High-Performance Computing Expertise in parallel computing, computing on networks of workstations, computationally intensive problems in engineering, multidisciplinary design optimization, and high-quality numerical software development.
Software Engineering Expertise in relational database design, design of computer-aided engineering software, object-oriented programming with C++, Windows programming with the Microsoft Foundation Class library, Internet course development.
VISC’s 14 members and 19 associate members can aid your company in numerous areas of information systems, not just those included in our Centers of Excellence. Many of our members are internationally known in their fields. In most of the areas listed below, faculty and advanced graduate students are available to our industrial affiliates for long- or short-term consulting, funded research, seminars, and short courses.
VISC faculty have industrial experience in many of the above listed research areas, so they understand the needs and demands of industrial research. Some examples of this work, discussed briefly below, include hardware and software design, computer vision, network performance analysis, and multimedia network development. One good example of VISC’s industry-related research is the work done by Drs. Armstrong, Athanas, Cyre, and Gray in managing design complexity. Today, programs contain hundreds of thousands of lines of code and chips contain millions of gates. To help companies remain competitive and move products to market more quickly, VISC has created design methods to enhance productivity. Special computer languages and graphics-based tools allow designers to design at a less detailed level. Synthesis tools can automatically generate software code or gate designs from language and graphic descriptions. These tools can also utilize libraries of reusable program and circuit segments, thus reducing the amount of new design work needed for each project. Through training provided by VISC and through funded research, many companies have already benefited from these design innovations. Dr. Abbott, who specializes in computer vision and image processing, has worked with a team of students to develop several industrial computer vision systems. Two of the systems are capable of identifying components on a production line and are currently in use in a factory environment. Drs. Davis and Midkiff have used computer simulation to evaluate the performance of satellite-based data networks, military data networks, and multimedia applications for ATM. They have also designed protocols and network applications for wireless networks. Dr. Kobza, who analyzes network and protocol performance, worked 3 years at GTE Labs analyzing the performance of integrated packet-switched networks before coming to Virginia Tech. Dr. Midkiff has worked with industrial sponsors to develop video conferencing applications for education, training, and collaboration and to evaluate video conferencing traffic. He has also worked on WWW-based access systems and on using the WWW for education and training. These are only a few examples of the industrial work performed by VISC members. Our industrial affiliates program brings this experience and VISC’s products and facilities to work for you, solving your problems.
Research by VISC members has led to many innovative products. Some of these include:
Laboratories In August 1997, VISC moved into new space in Virginia Tech’s New Engineering Building with state-of-the-art research laboratories and equipment. Hardware
Software
Research funding for VISC full and associate members totaled $19.6 million from 1991 through 1995. Recent sponsors of VISC members’ research include:
INDUSTRIAL AFFILIATES PROGRAM DETAILS VISC provides services to enable both large and small companies to maximize productivity, implement state-of-the-art information systems in industrial, office, or educational settings, and minimize time to market for new products. Our industrial affiliates share our products and expertise in many ways, as outlined in the program below. Membership is available in two levels:
Silver Level
Gold Level Includes all the benefits of Silver Level, plus these additional benefits:
To team up with VISC in a mutually beneficial research effort, join our Industrial Affiliates Program now. To join, or simply for more information, contact
Dr. Dong S. Ha, Director Virginia Tech Information Systems Center
Virginia Tech does not discriminate against employees, students, or applicants on the basis of race, sex, disability, age, veteran status, national origin, religion, political affiliation or sexual orientation. The University is subject to Titles VI and VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, Sections 503 and 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, the Vietnam Era Veterans' Readjustment Assistant Act of 1974, the Federal Executive Order 11246, Governor Allen's State Executive Order Number Two, and all other rules and regulations that are applicable. Anyone having questions concerning any of those regulations should contact the Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action Office, 336 Burruss Hall, Blacksburg, Virginia 24061-0216, (540) 231-7500, TDD (540) 231-9460. Comments to: sysmag@visc.vt.edu Last updated: 09 April 1998 |
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Last updated: July 21, 1999
http://www.visc.vt.edu/visc/affiliat.html
Design languages and tools