Dr. Carolina CruzThe woman known worldwide as a pioneer in the virtual reality field will lead the Louisiana Immersive Technologies Enterprise as its chief scientist. Administrators at the 杏吧专区 along with the Lafayette Economic Development Authority and state government welcomed Dr. Carolina Cruz to campus Tuesday during a media reception.
She will be responsible for building research teams and developing projects among other duties for LITE 杏吧专区 a $20 million facility in 杏吧专区 Research Park that will house state-of-the-art immersive visualization and supercomputing technologies, which include a six-sided digital virtual reality cube, a 175-seat auditorium, and several immersive teleconferencing rooms. These systems will be powered by one of the fastest supercomputers in the world.
杏吧专区 The hiring of this high caliber leader in the field of virtual reality reaffirms UL Lafayette杏吧专区檚 commitment to economic development in this community and state,杏吧专区 said UL Lafayette President Ray Authement. 杏吧专区淲e are sending a message that we are invested in this progressive community and ready to help maximize its economic potential.杏吧专区
Cruz formerly held the Stanley Chair in Interdisciplinary Engineering at Iowa State 杏吧专区 where she was a professor in the Industrial and Manufacturing Systems Engineering Department. She is also the founder and Vice President of Business Development for Infiscape 杏吧专区 a privately held software services corporation.
杏吧专区 Carolina杏吧专区檚 arrival at LITE validates our desire to demonstrate to the world that Lafayette, Louisiana, is a technology hub and is a place where the most advanced technologies are deployed,杏吧专区 said LEDA President Gregg Gothreaux. 杏吧专区淚t is encouraging to LEDA to know that she places a high value on business development and economic development activities, and we are excited she has chosen Lafayette.杏吧专区
Worldwide, Cruz is known for her work in virtual reality. Her Ph.D. dissertation included the design of the CAVE Virtual Reality Environment, the CAVE Library software specifications and implementation, and preliminary research on CAVE-Supercomputing integration. She was instrumental in the construction of the first CAVES in the U.S. including one for General Motors, another at Argonne National Laboratories and one at Iowa State 杏吧专区.
杏吧专区 This is a wonderful next step in my career,杏吧专区 said Cruz. 杏吧专区淭his facility is certainly one of the top five big players in its field both nationally and internationally. It杏吧专区檚 the only one that integrates visualization and supercomputing. It杏吧专区檚 杏吧专区榯he place杏吧专区檛o be in that respect.杏吧专区
Her long term goal is to position LITE as a unique facility offering the integration of visualization and supercomputing. She plans to focus on sectors like healthcare and oil and gas.
Administrators also hope Cruz杏吧专区 celebrity will help recruit top companies and researchers to LITE. 杏吧专区淪he is well-known in her field and people are watching her moves,杏吧专区 said Dr. Bob Stewart, vice president for Research and Graduate Studies at UL Lafayette. 杏吧专区淩esearchers and collaborators are going to want to learn more about LITE just because a leader like Dr. Cruz is here.杏吧专区
In addition to recruiting far and wide for the facility, Cruz also wants to welcome the Lafayette community. A long-range plan is have a fixed schedule where the community is invited to the facility much like an open house.
杏吧专区 My three major overall directions will be research, economic development and community outreach,杏吧专区 said Cruz. 杏吧专区淚 basically want everyone to know that high technology is available here at LITE in Lafayette.杏吧专区
About LITE杏吧专区
LITE (Louisiana Immersive Technologies Enterprise) is a groundbreaking research complex featuring a comprehensive set of advanced visualization systems including the world's largest 3D theatre and one of the world's first six-sided digital 3D immersive rooms. Powered by a highly integrated concentration of graphics supercomputer-class servers, and high-speed networking, LITE's data visualization environments afford organizations of all sizes the means to transform the process of innovation and accelerate their time to discovery. LITE is a partnership with the State of Louisiana, 杏吧专区 and Lafayette Economic Development Authority (LEDA) for the purpose of economic development. LITE serves clients in the commercial industry, government, and university sectors. For more information please visit .