Stevens wins lead role in €44 million European Cooperation in Science and Technology (COST) Action

It's all about COST. President Obama's investments in US technology at the National Science Foundation (NSF) are being supplemented by funding from the European Community in a rare but significant instance of US-European trans-Atlantic cooperation in science and technology.

As the only US university teamed with Rome's University de la Sapienza to win the project to develop cognitive systems technology, Stevens Institute of Technology, Hoboken, New Jersey, USA, is proposed to contribute to all of the work packages in this €44 million Euro Action over the next four years. U. Roma selected Stevens to join in proposing this Action because of the global leadership of Stevens' faculty in the relevant fields.

Participation in this COST Action complements Stevens’ interdisciplinary lead in cognitive systems for secure and resilient wired and wireless information systems.

"Such trans-Atlantic cooperation in science and technology generates the innovation that we need to emerge from the world economic downturn through world-class technology for more dynamic, multipurpose hand-held communications; highly customized personal-digital assistants for home and healthcare; and a more secure future Internet," Stevens' President Hal Raveche explained.

Stevens’ Distinguished Professor, Dr. Joseph Mitola III, who serves as Stevens’ Vice President for the Research Enterprise, is widely credited as the inventor both of “software defined radio” (SDR) and of cognitive radio, revolutions that are transforming global communications technologies across cell phone, military, and first responder markets. Cognition technology makes systems "self-aware, user-aware, and capable of learning," Professor Mitola explained, "and that lowers cost."

"U. Roma's idea of using cognition technology to integrate heterogeneous networks like GSM and CDMA cell phones, WiFi wireless access points, and HomeRF is brilliant," Professor Mitola explained, "instead of spending huge sums to build new cell towers for broadband, this systems approach leverages $100 local access points to provide 80% of the broadband service to users at 20% of the cost."

"GSM generated $1.2Trillion of revenues for Europe in its first decade in no small measure as a result of COST Actions similar to this," Jorge Perierra, Director of Wireless Programs for the European Community commented, "We are expecting big impact from this action."

About Stevens Institute of Technology

Founded in 1870, Stevens Institute of Technology is one of the leading technological universities in the world dedicated to learning and research. Through its broad-based curricula, nurturing of creative inventiveness, and cross disciplinary research, the Institute is at the forefront of global challenges in engineering, science, and technology management. Partnerships and collaboration between, and among, business, industry, government and other universities contribute to the enriched environment of the Institute. A new model for technology commercialization in academe, known as Technogenesis®, involves external partners in launching business enterprises to create broad opportunities and shared value.

Stevens offers baccalaureates, master’s and doctoral degrees in engineering, science, computer science and management, in addition to a baccalaureate degree in the humanities and liberal arts, and in business and technology. The university has a total enrollment of 2,150 undergraduate and 3,500 graduate students, with about 250 full-time faculty. Stevens’ graduate programs have attracted international participation from China, India, Southeast Asia, Europe and Latin America. Additional information may be obtained from its web page at www.stevens.edu.  

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