The School of Information Studies’ NEXIS laboratory received a $24,000 grant from Microsoft Research FUSE Labs to boost its ongoing research in emerging technologies and social media.

The New Explorations in Information and Science laboratory, known as the Starship NEXIS, according to its website, focuses heavily on social media trends and new technologies.

The NEXIS laboratory was founded in 2011 to study social media, but officials in NEXIS have since expanded experimentation into fields like 3D printing, network devices and data visualization, said Hailey Temple, NEXIS intergalactic resources manager.

This semester, the iSchool is introducing IST 200: “Invent the Future,” a three-credit NEXIS class directed toward undergraduates. The class focuses on the intersection between information and science, said Anthony Rotolo, NEXIS captain and professor of the class.

One project planned for the class examines the “quantified self,” a trend in which people wear body sensors while exercising to keep track of heart rate, blood pressure and other metrics, Rotolo said. Students will wear sensors purchased with grant money and use the data to create visualizations of their own biometrics, he said.

“It’s not what you would consider a typical research center,” Rotolo said about the lab.  “NEXIS is an environment that is a little unstructured by design.”

The NEXIS staff, or “crew,” consists of 11 undergraduates, graduate students and faculty, according to the lab’s website.

Part of the grant money, which was donated to the school in July, will most likely go toward new equipment for the lab, said Rotolo. Grant money will also be used to organize events to recruit more students, either as lab crewmembers or students in the NEXIS class. The class is open to students from all majors, but requires instructor approval to enroll.

Microsoft researcher Shelly Farnham was impressed by the NEXIS lab’s support for “incubation-oriented R&D (research and development) with the students” after visiting the iSchool, according to an iSchool press release.

The lab’s past projects include a data visualization of tweets about the Boston Marathon bombing last April, a model rocket connected to Foursquare and social media consulting for local companies like Destiny USA and CNY News Network, said Bob O’Brien, a NEXIS crewmember.

“We work on the final frontiers of technology,” NEXIS crewmember Temple said. “People that work there are really passionate about tech and where it can take us.”

“It is really going to help make more opportunities available to more students,” Rotolo said.

Temple, who is a junior public relations and information management and technology major, hopes the grant from Microsoft will help allow the lab to “build a repertoire to showcase” and potentially create opportunities to collaborate with other corporate partners.

Said Temple: “If we find something that’s really inspiring, it’s great to have that support.”

Published on August 28, 2013 at 1:43 am

Contact Linda: lggorman@syr.edu