NKU College of Informatics expands into brave new world

Published April 7, 2009 at 12:00 a.m.
In speaking with Dr. Douglas Perry, the Dean of the College of Informatics, it only takes a matter of time before one begins to share his excitement for Northern Kentucky University'snew $50.8 million Center for Informatics.  Drawings show astate-of-the-art facility that will serve as both a new home for theCollege of Informatics as well as a gateway to the campus' West Quad.

The 110,000-square-foot facility, designed by lead architect Goody Clancy and local architecture firm McGill Smith Punshon Inc., is made up of a central Informatics Common and "digitorium," flanked on two sides by four-story loft-style academic buildings.

Oneenters the structure through the Informatics Common, designed to serveas an intersection between the social and digital worlds containedwithin the center. This space will house a "genius bar", complete witha multi-discipline technology help desk, research flex space, and acafé.

Within the Informatics Common sits the impressivetwo-story glass digitorium, the fully reconfigurable technologicalheart of the center equipped with audio/visual technology usinghigh-quality LED, digital projection, and intelligent digital displaysthat allow users to watch, interact with, create and share information.The digitorium's transparent skin is designed to reflect the center'spurpose by allowing those outside to witness human interaction, themost basic – yet most complex – of information sharing systems.

"Withthe digitorium we are going to be able to create or recreate anythingdigital including simulations of war rooms, gaming contests, 3D filmfestivals, mercantile trading houses or even a performance space," saysDr. Perry.

What does the College of Informatics need with aperformance space? Dr. Perry is happy to explain that his vision forinformatics goes well beyond the "hardcore bit-level computer science."Although that research is important, Dr. Perry wants to reach muchfurther… "all the way to a whole human-affected domain – includingwriting, communication, music, performance, even dance."

Preliminaryconversations have taken place with area arts leaders includingCincinnati Ballet CEO and Artistic Director, Victoria Morgan aboutusing the College's resources in new and different ways.

"Thedigitorium will be saturated with high definition cameras that can takeimages of a performance, synthesize, render into a new image, andproject onto the digitorium wall, all in real time. The artisticpossibilities are endless," says Dr. Perry.

Opening things wetake for granted into a realm of endless possibility is at the veryheart of the study of informatics. Dr. Perry continues, "We want totranscend the college to offer something so unique that it will draw inas many people as possible. I want people to walk in and understandimmediately what informatics could mean to them."

Lining theInformatics Common sits a pair of glass and metal lofts housingclassrooms and labs arranged on the lower two floors, administrativefunctions stacked on the third floor, and faculty offices on the fourthfloor.

Construction of the Center for Informatics is expected tobegin within the next two months, with completion occurring by July2010.

The Kentucky legislature has approved $35.5 million forthe new center, with the remainder being funded by a mix of grants andprivate, government, and corporate funding.

"Currently there arevery few colleges of informatics in the country," says Dr. Perry.  Infact NKU can boast it has one of less than a dozen like it around thenation.

"The University conducted a study five years ago wherethey looked at the surrounding economy and area and said, 'where can wego from here?'"

The study showed that NKU was already graduatinga number of students in the informatics field even without a programdedicated to it.

"The real reason we got the program started was because of the surrounding business community," says Perry.

Itturns out Northern Kentucky's industries and businesses possess a veryreal and practical need for talent honed in programs such as these. "85percent of our graduates stay right here," says Perry who believes thenew facility will help supply the skilled workforce needed for theregion's information economy by attracting and retaining artists,musicians, entrepreneurs, and scientists.

Currently a leader inKentucky's e-health network through the modernization of the deliveryof health care through technology, the college is looking to expand itsstudy of electronic information to other disciplines. A $2 millioninvestment into a virtual "cave" will open doors to a number of areacompanies wanting to perform simulated market research. "Mostcompanies, even the larger ones, can’t make that kind of investmentinto that kind of technology," says Dr. Perry. "We'll be the onlyfacility in the region that will be able to offer this kind of space toa wide array of companies."



Writer: Kevin LeMaster and Jeff Syroney
Source: Northern Kentucky University College of Informatics
Rendering provided


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