Since its creation in late 2006, the Advanced Technology and Innovation Center, or ATIC, has offered ASU students and faculty the opportunity to work with businesses in their fields to develop new technologies.
The center focuses on creating partnerships with small- to medium-sized businesses, and sometimes individuals, that are looking to develop a new product, software, or technology, said the center's founder and director Anshuman Razdan.
"Big industries have a different kind of leverage," Razdan said, "whereas ASU is a huge labyrinth of knowledge, it may seem overwhelming to a smaller enterprise. ATIC becomes the umbrella organization to channel the flow of information to the appropriate departments.
"ATIC lowers barriers by collaborating with all departments of the University."
The center works closely with students in the departments of Mechanical and Manufacturing Technology and Computer Software Engineering for design, development, and testing of prototypes.
Rakesh Kukkamalla and Sanakiram Dandibhotla are graduate students in the Computer Software Engineering program who are currently collaborating with Georgetown University and the National Institute of Health on the development of an Image Guided Surgical Toolkit.
"This is mission-critical software," Kukkamalla said, as he explained that it is their job to try to "poke holes in the software" by testing all possibilities.
"It will be used in surgery, so we need to make sure it works as intended," Kukkamalla said.
The College of Technology and Innovation supports the center, which is located in the Division of Computing Studies on the Polytechnic campus.
The center has completed 13 projects in conjunction with companies such as Nucleic Solutions Inc., Unicon Inc., RocketGang, Kinetic Muscles Inc., the National Science Foundation, and ACME Electric Corporation.
In addition to Georgetown University and The National Institure of Health, current projects are underway with the Department of Homeland Security, the National Geospatial Academy, Oceanit Laboratories, In-Q-Tel, and the U.S. Army.
When ATIC is contacted by businesses or individuals with a new concept, the first step is to connect with faculty in the appropriate ASU department.
Usually the faculty will then recommend any students they know who may be interested in the project.
Both graduate and undergraduate students who benefit from the opportunity to work with the current industry, do most of the work, said program manager Jane Laux.
"That way, when the company has a position in regards to the technology we just created, they're not going to need to bring in someone new," Razdan said.
"They are going to hire the people that already know what they're doing," he added.
"We really want to facilitate exposure and placement of students in present-day industry," Laux added.
Another way the center supports this goal is through its ASSET program, which stands for ATIC Student Success in Entrepreneurship Training.
The ASSET program connects students to local industries through a series of seminars. The center's seminars, or colloquiums, are held about once a month, and they allow students to meet and hear from a leader in the current professional world.
For more information on the center and to see a list of project opportunities, visit its Web site at atic.asu.edu.
Reach the reporter at: kbielski@asu.edu.
