History

Center Summaries

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11 Centers Collaborate: New methods. New ideas. New technologies. New products. And it is happening at Discovery Park.
Here’s a look at the mission of the 11 Discovery Park centers at Purdue University:

• Bindley Bioscience Center

Life sciences and engineering researchers in this center collaborate to explore new technologies and science that have broad implications in plant, animal, and human diseases. Researchers also examine technology development and basic research for large-scale analyses of proteins, metabolites, and cellular structure to foster a better understanding of biological systems.

• Birck Nanotechnology Center

This center focuses on researching, designing, and creating improved nanoscale materials, structures and devices, and systems that have nanoscale properties. Birck scientists also are studying how to manufacture nanoscale devices for the next generation of electronic devices similar to the transistors and circuits in computer chips. Birck also includes2 the National Science Foundation's Network for Computational Nanotechnology.

• Burton D. Morgan Center for Entrepreneurship

This center is a platform to launch technology-based enterprises based on Purdue research. It also helps faculty, students, and Indiana entrepreneurs better understand how to bring research and technology to market. This center also includes2 the Center for Regional Development.

• Center for Advanced Manufacturing

This center, in conjunction with Indiana and Midwest manufacturers, focuses on research to develop and improve manufacturing processes, productivity, and materials. It also sponsors regional summits to address local challenges and explore research opportunities for collaboration. This center also includes2 the Product Lifecycle Management program.

• Center for the Environment

At a time when the world’s resources are being consumed at unprecedented rates, this center examines how to protect the environment while sustaining a global economy. Center researchers study ways to model and predict the impact of activity on ecosystems, monitor environmental quality, manage natural resources, and develop technologies that will help create a cleaner environment.

• Cyber Center

This center focuses on creating systems and tools to disseminate and preserve scientific and engineering knowledge. Its infrastructure is based on distributed computer, information, and communication technologies.

• Discovery Learning Research Center

Projects in this center focus on the design and assessment of educational initiatives, innovative learning spaces, and advanced technologies to enhance the learning process and improve educational practices. This center also organizes undergraduate student internship programs for all of the centers in the park.

• e-Enterprise Center

This center’s mission is to seed, nurture, and execute large-scale research projects that involve applying computing, project management, and information technology principles to address real-world challenges. This center includes2 the Purdue Homeland Security Institute and the Purdue University Regional Visualization and Analytics Center.

• Energy Center

This center focuses on a portfolio of new technologies to address issues surrounding the need to develop clean, secure and abundant forms of energy. It's facilitating the collaboration of seven colleges and more than 35 departments at Purdue, as well as more than 170 participants to address energy challenges.

• Oncological Sciences Center

This center is focused on the national challenge to eliminate cancer as a cause of suffering and death by 2015 by drawing on research strengths in biological, chemical, engineering, life sciences and liberal arts, engineering, and chemical sciences. This center also applies complex modeling systems to study cancer patients and their response to a treatment or series of treatments.

• Regenstrief Center for Healthcare Engineering

At this center, experts are applying the principles of technology, engineering, supply chain management and more. Initial areas of research have included improving the safety and efficiency of patient care; providing more efficient deployment of physicians, nurses and other health-care personnel; and better coordinating inpatient and outpatient treatment. Literally every college at Purdue is involved in Regenstrief activities. For example, the center also involves liberal arts faculty in areas such as sociology, health communication and kinesiology, as well as Purdue researchers in pharmacy, nursing, health sciences, consumer sciences, technology, agriculture and veterinary medicine.