School of Architecture and Design Receives $2 Million Grant

NYIT School of Architecture and Design received a grant exceeding $2 million from the IDC Foundation. The grant will help further the school’s “culture of making” by enabling students to explore synergies between architecture and medicine and the health professions, as well as combine their design sensibilities with advanced digital fabrication equipment.

“We are honored and thrilled about this partnership with the IDC Foundation and are sincerely grateful for this extraordinary commitment to NYIT,” said Maria R. Perbellini, M.Arch., dean of the School of Architecture and Design. “We aspire to transform NYIT as an institution so that the architecture, medical, and health fields can work together on unprecedented research and education activities through design and technology.”

The grant will provide funding for academic activities, scholarships, projects, and the development of two new post-graduate academic programs to foster collaborative and cross-disciplinary efforts between the School of Architecture and Design and other NYIT schools and colleges, including NYIT College of Osteopathic Medicine (NYITCOM) and NYIT School of Interdisciplinary Studies and Education.

The proposed M.S. program in Design and Health will focus on healthcare design, biomedical systems, parameters affecting health and wellness, and solutions for better living in a more sustainable world.

Dean Maria Perbellini with Raymond R. Savino, president of the IDC Foundation.

“We will move beyond architectural research, to engage with alternative and unconventional design solutions towards a healthier built environment and a holistic approach to wellbeing,” said Perbellini. “My appreciation goes to Wolfgang Gilliar, D.O., dean of NYITCOM for coming on board with a collaboration that will propel future fruitful intersections between our two schools.”

The master’s degree in Digital Fabrication is being developed to focus on design at a variety of scales, from nano to micro, and investigate the development of high-performing building components, integrated material systems for environmentally responsive building skins, smart material processes and biomaterials, leveraging the fields of architecture, engineering, health, and medicine. NYIT hopes to launch the post-professional degrees in fall 2019.

“Our goal is to immerse students in a transformative learning environment that advances new knowledge while blurring disciplinary boundaries and imparts a deep understanding of innovation and specialization to address globally significant issues,” said Perbellini.

The grant will also fund the IDC Foundation Endowed Chair of Digital Technology in the School of Architecture and Design, the first endowed chair at NYIT. In addition, it will also support the design and construction of the IDC Foundation Digital Fabrication Lab that will include a new robotic matter design lab.

“This is a true agent of change for the School of Architecture and Design and stewards NYIT’s mission to sustain a vibrant student-centered learning community,” said Perbellini. “On behalf of the School of Architecture and Design, I would like to express our most sincere gratitude to NYIT President Hank Foley, Ph.D., for his enthusiastic support and faith in the promise of the proposal and our work.”

The IDC Foundation is a legacy of the Institute of Design and Construction, the former Brooklyn-based, nonprofit, technical college that educated more than 30,000 students between its founding in 1947 and its closing in 2015.

“The IDC Foundation is pleased to support the New York Institute of Technology, whose mission is closely aligned with the legacy of the Institute of Design and Construction,” said Raymond R. Savino, president of the IDC Foundation. “Both share a commitment to career-oriented professional education, access to opportunity, and applications-oriented research. We are especially pleased to support the commitment of NYIT’s School of Architecture and Design to explore opportunities at the intersection of the architecture and medical fields to collaborate on unique and unprecedented research and educational activities through design and technology.”

“We cannot thank the IDC Foundation Board of Directors enough for this extremely generous grant, in particular Ray Savino, Frank DarConte, and Frank Fortino, who have worked closely with us, and for believing in the value of our vision for the School of Architecture and Design,” said Perbellini. “This opportunity gives us space to grow, acquire knowledge, and bolster our passion for architecture.”