Partnership Grows Between New York Tech and IDC Foundation

Selection of students’ design work, created with support from the software, digital tools, and digital performance analytic programs that IDC Foundation funding is helping to enhance in School of Architecture and Design fabrication and computer labs. Top from left: Stuart Jacome (Architectural Design VIII, 2021); Ezekiel Cambara (Architectural Design V, 2020); Bottom from left: Saradia Diegue (Design Fundamentals II, 2021); Amoy Herridge (Design Fundamentals I, 2020); Charith Kombara Basapa (Design Fundamentals I, 2020), and Peter Thompson (Architectural Design VIII, 2021)

The IDC Foundation, a legacy of the Institute of Design and Construction, has awarded the School of Architecture and Design two additional grants—a $250,000 innovation grant and $100,000 for student scholarships. This additional $350,000 in IDC Foundation grant funding brings its total support of New York Tech to nearly $3 million since 2018.

The driving force behind the newest grant award is to help New York Tech achieve technology equivalency among fabrication lab facilities and resources on both of its New York campuses and support training for architecture and design students at all levels, from introductory training to developing the most sophisticated, advanced skills. 

The $250,000 innovation grant will span two years and will contribute to the following:

• Expand the existing School of Architecture and Design fabrication lab on New York Tech’s New York City campus by adding a Robotic and Advanced 3-D Printing Smart Lab. This expansion will increase the footprint of the lab by more than a third and includes renovations to the existing 3-D printing/laser cutting area. The goal is to ensure the New York City campus lab has similar state-of-the-art equipment and resources as the IDC Foundation Digital Fabrication and Robotic Matter Design Labs (FabLabs) that opened on New York Tech’s Long Island campus in 2021.
• Initiate the first phase of a Bio-Technology Research Lab on New York Tech’s Long Island campus to investigate opportunities and promote innovative research, including the creation of a “healthy materials” lab for research on architecture and design solutions that support sustainable environments.
• Skills training for students on new software and equipment and topical workshops that focus on design processes to help both develop and accelerate students’ abilities in digital design, fabrication, computational design, and more, as well as prepare students for current industry demands.

The $100,000 grant for student scholarships will help to attract and retain the most talented, promising students. The funding will also provide graduate research scholarships and spur graduate program development for the School of Architecture and Design.

“We are extremely grateful to the IDC Foundation for the continuing trust and generous support of New York Tech,” said School of Architecture and Design Dean Maria Perbellini. “The school’s student population is growing, and we are raising the bar by setting evolving ambitions. Specifically, students need to become familiar with 3-D printing and robotic technology early in their design processes, so the availability of digital tools at the New York City campus that are comparable to the technology in the Long Island campus Fab Lab will be helpful for students’ initial training and then as they prepare to access the emerging and more sophisticated fabrication equipment in the Long Island campus lab.”

Perbellini also noted that the equivalency of the state-of-the-art equipment and resources in both New York campus fabrication labs will support accreditation standards. “Larger, highly advanced labs will provide the opportunity to attract more talented students for innovative, experimental, and pioneering design courses. Our partnership with the IDC Foundation is the perfect place not only to grow but thrive. Thank you so much, IDC,” she added.

The IDC Foundation awarded New York Tech a $2 million grant in 2018 and additional annual funds in the amount of $940,000 for scholarships, fellowships, and novel student activities to help further develop the school’s “culture of making” by enabling faculty and students to explore synergies at the boundaries of architecture, medicine, and healthcare professions, as well as combine design thinking with computational technologies and advanced digital fabrication techniques and methods.

“The IDC Foundation is pleased to support the School of Architecture and Design at New York Tech and to help it set a fast pace in the teaching of digital technologies and digital fabrication,” said Raymond R. Savino, president of the IDC Foundation. “We are excited about New York Tech’s growing leadership in this space and the vital role that it plays in greater New York and beyond.”

The state-of-the-art FabLab on the Long Island campus that opened in October 2021 is equipped with vacuum forming tools, laser cutters, CNC (computer numerical control) machines, 3-D printing equipment at multiple scales and with a variety of materials, as well as simulation programs, augmented and virtual reality, building information modeling, and robotic systems. The support received also contributed to funding the IDC Foundation Endowed Chair of Digital Technologies in the School of Architecture and Design, the first endowed chair at New York Tech, and the launch of two new post-professional master’s degree programs: architecture, health and design and architecture, computational technologies.