Penn State University and Xerox Corporation announced April 16 the development of the "Xerox Innovation Centre" in the new Penn State Information Sciences and Technology building under construction. The center, funded in part by a $100,000 grant from the Xerox Foundation, will feature state-of-the-art Xerox systems further enhanced by Web-based software applications that will allow students to access and print information anywhere at anytime.
Passersby on the building's bridge-walkway will be able to look into the center to see leading-edge information technologies on display, being demonstrated or in use. The Innovation Centre will be used to support instructional and research programs. "This highly visible space will showcase next-generation technology," said James Thomas, dean of the Penn State School of Information Sciences and Technology (IST). "Aptly named, the Xerox Innovation Centre will add greater value to how students, faculty and staff manage the endless stream of information required to be productive in today's society."
In a ceremony on campus today, Anne Mulcahy, Xerox chairman and CEO, presented Penn State President Graham Spanier with the donation, officially launching the joint initiative.
"This school is a mirror image of what we believe in and is an important school to all of us in the IT industry," Mulcahy said. "By integrating our strong heritage with Penn State's commitment to scientific discovery, the Xerox Innovation Centre showcases the power of people and technology coming together to make access to information ubiquitous." Xerox is known worldwide for an array of innovative people-based services, software and products - including color and black-and-white printers, multifunction devices and digital copiers - designed for offices and production-printing environments.
Penn State's primary provider of document management services, Xerox has long been a corporate friend to the university.
Said Spanier, "Xerox is a perfect partner for the School of IST because of its combined focus on people, business, engineering and information."
Mulcahy praised IST, noting the school "will be a role model for the development of leadership people far into the 21st century."
Mulcahy was named CEO of Xerox in August 2001 and chair in January 2002. She began her career with Xerox in 1976 as a field sales representative.
Begun in Oct. 2001, the Information Sciences and Technology Building is on target to be completed in Nov. 2003. The three-story building includes a 150-seat Cybertorium, classrooms, laboratories and an Atrium, also off the 900-foot walkway. It will be home to IST and the Penn State Department of Computer Science and Engineering.
The facility was designed by the renowned Rafael Viñoly Architects, P.C., of New York City, and Perfido Weiskopf Architects, Pittsburgh. Viñoly Architects was recently the runner-up in the competition to design the new World trade Center in New York.
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