Contract recognizes the success of ICT as the UARC celebrates its 25th anniversary.
Dr. Randall W. Hill, Jr, Vice Dean, Viterbi School of Engineering, Omar B. Milligan Professor in Computer Science (Games and Interactive Media) and Executive Director of the USC Institute for Creative Technologies, is pleased to announce that ICT has been awarded a new University Affiliated Research Center (UARC) contract by the Department of Defense.
The USC Institute for Creative Technologies (ICT), a unit of the Viterbi School of Engineering, is a Department of Defense (DoD) University Affiliated Research Center (UARC), sponsored by the US Army. ICT was established in 1999 with a multi-year contract from the US Army to explore a powerful question: What would happen if leading technologists in artificial intelligence, graphics, and immersion joined forces with the creative talents of Hollywood and the game industry? The answer is groundbreaking research and the creation of engaging, memorable and effective interactive systems that, together, are revolutionizing learning in the fields of training, education and beyond.
“ICT just celebrated its 25th anniversary,” said Dr. Hill, who wrote about ICT’s Origin Story here. “And this new contract is a recognition of what we’ve achieved since 1999 under the designated ICT UARC Core Competencies which cover a range of topics including: modeling and simulation, immersion, artificial intelligence, and learning sciences.”
“ICT is a world-class research facility,” continued Dr. Hill, “With academics working alongside creatives and makers, conducting award-winning R&D in Artificial Intelligence (AI), Computer Graphics, Geospatial Sciences, Human Performance, Learning Sciences, Modeling, Simulation & Gaming, Mixed Reality (MxR), Medical VR, Narrative, and Virtual Humans.”
“This new contract allows for up to $362.6 Million in funding to support research and development, over a 5 year base and 5 year option period,” confirmed ICT’s Lila Brooks, Chief Business and Financial Officer.
Since its founding, ICT has received many accolades and awards. Its accomplishments include 2,000 Peer-Reviewed Publications with 125,000+ Citations; 140+ Honors and Awards Highlighting Faculty and Staff; 49 Hollywood Movies/Series use ICT Technologies; 278 Intellectual Property Disclosures; 29 Patents, 3 Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence (AAAI) Fellows; and 2 Academy Awards (Science & Technology).
Many of ICT’s projects have successfully transitioned to become POR (Programs of Record) including research that led to One World Terrain; DisasterSim; ELITE; JFETS; Mobile C-IED Trainer (MCIT), Tactical Questioning IEWTPT; ELECT-BiLat and UrbanSim (Games for Training POR).
Dr. Yannis C. Yortsos, Dean, USC Viterbi School of Engineering and the Zohrab Kaprielian Dean’s Chair in Engineering congratulated ICT, which became a unit of VSOE in January 2023:
“We are proud of ICT’s achievements, which have been rewarded with this new contract, recognizing its outstanding work and ingenuity over the past 25 years,” said Dean Yortsos. “As we advance transformative initiatives within USC’s Frontiers of Computing framework, we look to ICT to continue as an essential contributor to the overall mission of the Viterbi School of Engineering – to help engineer a better world for all humanity.”
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