The University of Texas at Dallas Selected As Alcatel Research Partner
Leading telecommunications network supplier chooses UTD to be among a select few to join in higher levels of research collaboration and innovation
DALLAS, Nov. 13, 2001 – Building on its long relationship with The University of Texas at Dallas (UTD), Alcatel (NYSE: ALA) today announced that it has selected UTD as the newest member of the company’s Research Partner Program – established to foster technological innovation through relationships with key universities and research institutes.
Alcatel unveiled the global program last month in Europe. The inclusion of UTD in the program will be formally announced later today at a ceremony and luncheon at the Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science on the U.T. Dallas campus. UTD is one of only two American universities initially selected for the program; another bilateral event this month will highlight a similar relationship with another U.S. university.
The program has three components: research collaboration; mobility, training and education; and incubation and start-up initiatives.
As a Research Partner, UTD will be part of a select group likely to be consulted first regarding new Alcatel collaborative research topics. In addition, the partnership is open to early stage companies programs within the university to commercially leverage innovative ideas.
“This will create opportunities for extensive collaboration between UTD and Alcatel that will cut across geographic boundaries and open exciting new telecommunications research opportunities for UTD and our corporation,” said Alcatel Americas Chief Technology Officer Niel Ransom.
The Alcatel Research Partner Program will enable UTD to collaborate with Alcatel’s entire global research organization, sharing information about future technologies and visions of the future of telecommunications. Under the program, Alcatel and UTD also may encourage the exchange of personnel, with temporary assignments for researchers and faculty and positions for students and fellows.
“UTD and Alcatel both have benefited in numerous ways from our relationship over the years,” said UTD President Franklyn G. Jenifer. “Alcatel has been a generous supporter of the university, and UTD has provided Alcatel with a pool of well-educated prospective employees as well as a place where the company’s existing employees can go for high-quality advanced education. This research partnership is an expansion of our existing relationship. We think it has great potential to produce technological advancements that will be beneficial to both parties and could raise the profile of The University of Texas at Dallas both nationally and internationally.”
Because of the nature of Alcatel’s business, most of the company’s collaborative research with UTD is likely to be with the university’s Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science, which two years ago became the first school in the United States to offer a telecommunications engineering degree. Alcatel, in fact, contributed $1 million toward a 152,000-square-foot expansion of the school currently under construction.
“Alcatel has been a good friend, and we are delighted to have been selected as one of the company’s official Research Partners,” said Jonsson School Dean William P. Osborne.
Although Alcatel works with more than 100 universities and research institutes around the world, it created the Research Partner Program as a way of nurturing new sources of innovation and to spur the development of creative ideas.
Other Alcatel Research Partners have been announced in Europe and in the U.S. For an up-to-date list of Alcatel Research Partners, http://www.alcatel.com/technologies/research_partners/.
About The University of Texas at Dallas
The University of Texas at Dallas, located at the convergence of Richardson, Plano and Dallas in the heart of the complex of major multinational technology corporations known as the Telecom Corridor®, enrolls more than 7,000 undergraduate and 5,000 graduate students. The school’s freshman class traditionally stands at the forefront of Texas state universities in terms of average SAT scores. The university offers a broad assortment of bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degree programs. For more information, please visit the university’s Web site at www.utdallas.edu/.
Alcatel builds next generation networks, delivering integrated end-to-end voice and data networking solutions to established and new carriers, as well as enterprises and consumers worldwide. With 110,000 employees and sales of Euro 31 billion in 2000, Alcatel operates in more than 130 countries. For more information, http://www.alcatel.com/.