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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: November 22, 2004

SCHUMER SECURES $1 MILLION FOR STONY BROOK’S CENTER OF EXCELLENCE IN WIRELESS INTERNET AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

Funding included in the FY05 Omnibus Appropriations bill

The Center’s project will focus on accurately identifying airborne toxic agents to allow a faster and more effective reaction in the event of a terrorist attack using hazardous materials

US Senator Charles E. Schumer today announced that Congress passed the FY2005 Omnibus Appropriations bill which included $1 million for The Center of Excellence in Wireless Internet and Information Technology at the State University of New York (SUNY) Stony Brook. The funding was included in the Veterans Affairs - Housing and Urban Development (VA-HUD) Appropriations portion of the bill. The bill now heads to the President for his signature.

“As the March Madrid subway bombings showed us, the terrorists will strike anyway that they can. We need to make sure we are prepared and doing everything we can to not only prevent these horrific possibilities but to have the tools and technology to respond to them if the unthinkable happens,” Schumer said. “We have worked on toxic agent detectors for enclosed areas, like airport terminals; the real challenge is in open areas like train and subway platforms and other public spaces, as well as public water supplies.”

The funding will be used for the Center’s Program for Homeland Defense and National Security. The first initiative will be to establish a sensor-based analysis/simulation/prediction system for airborne toxic agent events. The main goal of the project will be to rectify the information gap that prevents emergency planning and response from correctly identifying and reacting to a terrorist release of toxic agents.

The Center is developing a visualization project that will use the best available sensor technology to identify pathogens, weather modeling to predict the impact of different weather conditions, and parallel processing of data to allow for accurate forecasts of events during an emergency.

The Center of Excellence for Wireless and Information Technology (CEWIT) is one of five Centers of Excellence in New York State and is a joint initiative between Stony Brook University, the technology industry, and the NY State government to foster research and development in wireless technology.

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