I recently attended the grand opening of IPFW’s new Information Analytics and Visualization Center.

Wow!

When you walk in, you see the first wall in a CAVE system that provides for real time 3D graphics simulation and interaction (I think a floor is the next addition).  Three high-end 3D graphics workstations, various devices for user interaction, and a 20-node Beowulf server cluster drive the technology.

If you have any tech geekiness at all in your blood, you’ll love this place!

We watched 7 or 8 demonstrations that had been created by students, applications ranging from how to maximize crane logistics in a container yard considering wind and other environmental factors to a medical imaging application to help with the design of an orthopedic implant.

Probably most important is the fact that the lab will be supporting 8 different research centers, each led by a different professor.  I love that fact that some sophisticated research will be happening at IPFW, and I look forward to the time when the lab spins off some faculty / student teams with the idea to commercialize some new technologies developed right there!

Go check it out here.