By Josh Perry, Editor
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The University of Virginia (Charlottesville, Va.), the University of Florida (Gainesville, Fla.) and the University of Central Florida (Orlando, Fla.) have partnered to form a new industry-university cooperative research center, the MIST (multifunctional integrated systems technology) Center, to improve the functionality of Internet of Things (IoT) applications.

Avik Ghosh, left, and Patrick Hopkins, are co-directors of the MIST Center, where UVA researchers help solve practical problems for industry.
(Dan Addison, University Communications)

According to a report from Virginia, the MIST Center will focus on advancing technology that is not quite ready to be rolled out commercially. One goal is to integrate sensors on chips, bringing software and hardware closer together and not limited by WiFi or internet access.

In addition to the universities, the centers will also enable leaders from within the industry to join forces with academic researchers. Companies can purchase a membership that allows them to take part in the research projects and direct the research towards practical uses. At the University of Virginia, the U.S. Army Research Laboratory, Night Vision Labs, L3 Technologies, and DRS Technologies have already signed on, while other centers are working with the likes of Allegro, Corning, and Boeing.

The article noted that this works for the universities by cutting into the overhead costs and also acts as a recruiting opportunity for companies looking to hire top-notch engineers from the partner schools.

One of the topics of study is heat transfer across nanoscale hardware interfaces. Particularly, the researchers are trying to limit the thermal resistance of the interfaces to reduce heat, with the exception of one company that wanted more heat to make its sensor work better.

Read more about the MIST Centers and some of the projects that are being worked on at the University of Virginia at https://news.virginia.edu/content/researchers-mist-uva-faculty-work-advance-internet-things.