Lehigh has announced the formation of three Interdisciplinary Research Institutes (IRIs): the Institute for Functional Materials and Devices, the Institute for Data, Intelligent Systems, and Computation, and the Institute for Cyber–Physical Infrastructure and Energy.
Lehigh’s IRIs will create communities of scholars and will catalyze crucial research in areas in which Lehigh can take a leading position on the national and international stage and make lasting societal contributions.
The IRIs are one of the ways the University will realize its vision to build a stronger, more dynamic Lehigh. These Institutes will be supported by a portion of Lehigh’s commitment of more than $150 million toward interdisciplinary research and education with investments focused on faculty and student talent, new research and academic programs that collaborate across colleges, and the expansion of campus facilities dedicated to interdisciplinary research and learning.
Institute for Cyber Physical Infrastructure and Energy
Research within the Institute for Cyber Physical Infrastructure and Energy (I-CPIE) underpins all aspects of modern society. The demands and impacts of society’s reliance upon energy, communications, structural, and transportation systems requires a broad approach that’s focused not only on engineering systems, but on improving people’s lives.
Institute for Data, Intelligent Systems, and Computation
The Institute for Data, Intelligent Systems, and Computation (I-DISC) is devoted to the study of problems that involve massive amounts of data and/or large-scale computations, and developing the science that enables the extraction of useful and actionable information across disciplines and research fields.
Institute for Functional Materials and Devices
The Institute for Functional Materials and Devices (I-FMD) focuses on synthesis, fabrication, processing, and characterization of materials, devices and related systems. Existing research interests include photonics and electronics, metals, ceramics, biomaterials, polymers, and composites, and incorporate devices ranging in size from the nanometer and micrometer scales and beyond.