Seeking Truth at High Velocity

That’s the motto of USF’s Institute of Applied Engineering. To get a sense of the institute’s capabilities, think about the sandwich you had for lunch the other day. Now, imagine that sandwich is actually a communications satellite. That is, in fact, what the IAE created: Three small satellites, each the size of a sandwich, that have been orbiting the Earth since January. Robert Bishop, dean of USF’s College of Engineering, is the president and CEO of the institute, which was created in 2018. Intentionally located off-campus so engineering is “on display” for the public to see, the IAE searches for solutions “on a time scale that’s not common in some other traditional engineering research institutions,” Bishop says, adding, “Our focus is on applied engineering rather than basic research.” Its customers include U.S. Special Operations Command, headquartered at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa. The institute is in the second year of a five-year, $85 million contract that paves the way for researchers and students to collaborate with the command to help solve significant challenges facing the nation.