George M. Low Center for Industrial Innovation
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The George M. Low Center for Industrial Innovation, otherwise known as the Low Center or CII, is a major industry-funded research center at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
[edit] History
The center is named after George M. Low, who was an important administrator at NASA and President of the institute during the time of construction. With the support of Eastman Kodak, IBM, Colt Industries and General Electric, a proposal was made to Governor Hugh Carey to jointly sponsor a research and teaching center to promote industrial innovation. In July 1982, the State of New York agreed to use Rensselaer as the site for the new center. President Low stated that the State had "taken a giant step in its efforts to attract, nurture and keep advanced technology business in the state, a step that is certain to make a substantial impact on New York 's economy."[1] Construction began during the summer of 1984 and the center was dedicated on May 14, 1987.
[edit] Facilities
The nine-story, 200,000 sq. ft. building contains a high-bay, class 100 clean room, ninety laboratories, ten conference rooms and many offices.
Research centers housed in the Low Center
- Center for Integrated Electronics (CIE)[2]
- Within the CIE:
- Center for Advanced Interconnect Systems Technologies (CAIST)
- Center for Broadband Data Transport Science and Technology
- Center for Microcontamination Control
- Center for Power Electronics Systems (CPES)
- The Focus Center - New York, Rensselaer: Interconnections for Gigascale Integration
- Advanced Power Device Research Laboratory[3]
- Center for Automation Technologies and Systems (CATS)[4]
- New York State Center for Studies of the Origin of Life[5]
- Center for Terahertz Research[6]
The George M. Low Gallery
Upon his death, the Low family bequeathed all of Low's awards and memorabilia to the institute. These possessions were included in the George M. Low Gallery, a museum on the second floor, which is a tribute to George Low, NASA, and the engineers of the Apollo program. It is designed to make one feel almost as if they are in outer space; darkness contrasts with the lit exhibits, and pictures of astronauts and space are backlit from the outside.
