The iSchool at Drexel to Manage Drexel University’s Applied Informatics Group

With faculty specializing in such fields as data mining, information retrieval, information security, bioinformatics, systems analysis and design, and artificial intelligence, The iSchool at Drexel is poised to provide significant, beneficial research support to government agencies and corporations with a range of foci. To further enhance the College’s impact on these areas, the iSchool is pleased to announce that it will now be managing Drexel University’s Applied Informatics Group.

The Applied Informatics Group is comprised of seven full-time technical staff members with a decade-long track record of contributions to various corporations and government entities, and is housed in technologically advanced facilities in Camden, N.J. The group has been set up so that it can develop, test, and deploy information technologies in the real world in collaboration with such organizations as the United States Department of Defense, The U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the National Science Foundation, and the Federal Aviation Administration, among others.

“We anticipate that by taking on management of the Applied Informatics Group we will expand the iSchool’s reach in the area of contract research,” said iSchool Dean David E. Fenske. “Our researchers have expertise in a broad range of fields, and this gives us the opportunity to apply that knowledge to meet the needs of external organizations.”

The group researches and develops high-risk, high-reward advanced software technology concepts in collaboration with program managers to take its innovations into the field. Past projects include the development of technology that is now deployed by law enforcement and security agencies. Other applications developed by the group have been commercially successful as well.

Boosted by its relationship with the iSchool, the Applied Informatics Group aims to broaden its impact to enable faculty across campus to leverage its expertise and infrastructure through research collaboration and support.

“We hope that this empowers other researchers to attack bigger problems and larger, contract-based projects,” said William Regli, Ph.D., who is the group’s director and holds a joint faculty appointment with the iSchool and the College of Engineering. “Our hope is to increase the capability for Drexel and the iSchool to take on larger information systems design and engineering projects.”