Dell program to fund education research projects

ANN ARBOR—Representatives from Dell Computer Corporation today awarded the University of Michigan $125,000 at a reception held on campus. The award will be distributed among six research initiatives that encourage innovation in education while using the application of information technology.Dell awarded the funds as part of a new program called Dell STAR—Strategic Technology and Research. Through a proposal submission process, Dell provides funds to faculty members at select universities for projects that encourage innovation in education and the application of information technology within a university or business environment. Universities currently participating in this program are Duke University, Florida A&M University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Texas A&M University, University of North Carolina, and the U-M. José-Marie Griffiths, University Chief Information Officer at the U-M. “The diversity of the projects themselves gives just a glimpse of the breadth and depth of the ways that our faculty and students are developing and integrating technology in the life and work of the University community.”This year, the Dell STAR program will fund the following U-M research initiatives:•Course in Applied Portfolio Management: Resources will be used to develop a course in applied portfolio management to bridge the growing gap between traditional skills taught in the classroom and skills required in today’s business world. The course will be centered around a high technology financial research and trading room that incorporates the very latest in high-end workstations, financial data feeds and commercial financial research and trading software. In this setting, students will combine finance theory with leading edge technology to elevate themselves to the cutting edge of the investment management profession.•Dell Science Project In Urban Schools: The Dell Science Project in Urban Schools will add a new layer of functionality to Viz-It, a scientific visualization tool used to analyze data as they look for relationships, e.g., if the temperature increases, does the ozone increase. The results of the project will enable students to dynamically link image-based representations to the numeric representations already in Viz-IT creating smooth movement of all linked images in real-time.•Intelligent Synthetic Characters for Computer Games: The goal of the Intelligent Synthetic Characters for Computer Games research is to extend computer games into new genres by developing human-like synthetic characters that participate in games. Current synthetic characters have limited reasoning abilities and fall short of human players in many dimensions, usually disrupting the game flow and destroying the illusion of alternative reality. Intelligent synthetic characters will greatly enhance massively multi-player games by populating the worlds with intelligent and interesting characters that play supporting roles. Synthetic characters can also extend role-playing and adventure games by requiring the navigation of social interactions.•Internet Market Games for E-Commerce Education: The Internet Market Games for E-Commerce Education is an initiative intended to develop courseware supporting the conduct of interactive market games, designed to teach students about the mechanisms, issues, and potential capabilities of electronic commerce. The emphasis will be on the process of automating core commerce functions, where possible, engaging students in exercises where they play a designated role in a simulated commerce activity. •Linux Scalability Project: The primary goal of the Linux Scalability Project is to improve the scalability and robustness of the Linux operating system so that it can support greater network server workloads reliably, economically, and efficiently. LSP is specifically interested in single-system scalability, performance, and reliability of network servers and other enterprise-scale infrastructure products running on Linux.•Launch Ready Internet Start Ups: The Launch Ready Internet Start Ups project is a 14-week course that centers on the creation of launch-ready Internet startups. Its intention is to offer students interested in entrepreneurship an opportunity to turn their ideas into actual startup companies. The project is designed to bring students with expertise in computer programming, finance, marketing, and strategy together to create launch-ready Internet startups. Business plan preparation, e-commerce strategy, Web site design, and private equity financing will be channeled into the actual creation of e-businesses. (A-11)orWono Lee

Dell Computer CorporationJosé-Marie Griffiths