Stony Brook Receives $4.5 Million Grant to Recruit Leaders in AI and Cybersecurity

Stony Brook Receives $4.5 Million Grant to Recruit Leaders in AI and Cybersecurity

STONY BROOK, N.Y., June 22, 2017 – Stony Brook University’s College of Engineering and Applied Sciences has been awarded two grants totaling $4.5 million from SUNY’s Empire Innovation Program. The funding will be used to recruit and retain world-class faculty and researchers that strengthen Stony Brook’s research productivity in two high economic opportunity areas of state and national significance — artificial intelligence (AI) and cybersecurity. These hires will also accelerate the development of the emergent Institute for AI-Driven Discovery & Innovation. The initiative for the institute involves a collaboration between the CEAS and Stony Brook University School of Medicine, as faculty in these two high-tech areas encompass experts in multiple areas of medicine and engineering.  

The awards are designed to strengthen Stony Brook’s prominence by funding senior field-leading hires in AI and cybersecurity. In AI, Stony Brook will focus on applications in medicine, smart environments and infrastructures_, as well as core AI and machine-learning technologies. In cybersecurity, the focus will be on hardware security, operating systems security, big data security, and mobile security and on the National Security Institute, the existing cybersecurity cluster in Stony Brook. 

“Stony Brook has consistently played a nationally prominent role in AI and cybersecurity research,” said Samuel L. Stanley Jr., President of Stony Brook University. “We have recently undertaken a bold, strategic initiative in engineering-driven medicine for which AI technology and cybersecurity of medical data are significant drivers. This grant will enable us to recruit leading faculty researchers, and invest added resources with our current researchers as they together pursue excellence in advancing these fields.”  

The envisioned Institute will serve as a hub for all AI research thrusts on campus and advance Stony Brook’s position as a leader in AI research. In addition to conducting funded research, the Institute will catalyze new educational programs generating professionals for the AI-driven economy of the future. This will range from core technical programs (e.g., interdisciplinary data science and engineering or machine learning) to science communication, technology policy and entrepreneurship programs. The Institute will also stimulate regional economy by providing local industry and entrepreneurs with advanced technology training and highly skilled graduates.  

Space for the new hires will be allocated in the Computer Science building, a LEED facility  commissioned in 2015, and the upcoming MART (Medicine and Research Translation) building. Contingent upon AI cluster hire needs, additional space will be available in existing centers, including the Center of Excellence in Wireless & Information Technology (CEWIT), the Institute for Advanced Computational Science (IACS) and I-DIME, a new building that will serve as discovery and innovation space for medicine and engineering, to be located in the Stony Brook University Research and Development Park. 

# # # 

About Stony Brook University

Stony Brook University is going beyond the expectations of what today’s public universities can accomplish. Since its founding in 1957, this young university has grown to become one of only four University Center campuses in the State University of New York (SUNY) system with more than 25,700 students, 2,500 faculty members, and 18 NCAA Division I athletic programs. Our faculty have earned numerous prestigious awards, including the Nobel Prize, Pulitzer Prize, Indianapolis Prize for animal conservation, Abel Prize and the inaugural Breakthrough Prize in Mathematics. The University offers students an elite education with an outstanding return on investment: U.S. News & World Report ranks Stony Brook among the top 40 public universities in the nation. Its membership in the Association of American Universities (AAU) places Stony Brook among the top 62 research institutions in North America. As part of the management team of Brookhaven National Laboratory, the University joins a prestigious group of universities that have a role in running federal R&D labs. Stony Brook University is a driving force in the region’s economy, generating nearly 60,000 jobs and an annual economic impact of $4.65 billion. Our state, country and world demand ambitious ideas, imaginative solutions and exceptional leadership to forge a better future for all. The students, alumni, researchers and faculty of Stony Brook University are prepared to meet this challenge.

Reporter contact:  Lauren Sheprow

631 632-6310