By GREGORY ZELLER //
The defunct Institute of Design and Construction lives on – as does its long support of the New York Institute of Technology.
The IDC Foundation, legacy organization of the Brooklyn-based Institute of Design and Construction (1947-2015), has awarded New York Tech’s School of Architecture and Design two new grants totaling $350,000 – one award supporting student scholarships, the other improving the school’s technological chops.
Specifically, the IDC’s $250,000 “innovation grant” will add robotics and advanced 3D printing capabilities to the School of Architecture and Design’s New York City campus, bringing the Manhattan-based facility – already a laser-cutting/advanced manufacturing mecca – on par with the IDC Foundation Digital Fabrication and Robotic Matter Design Labs opened in 2021 on New York Tech’s Old Westbury campus.
Maria Perbellini: Evolutionary science.
Meanwhile, the $100,000 student-scholarship grant will “help to attract and retain the most talented, promising students,” according to New York Tech, while helping to expand the School of Architecture and Design’s graduate programming.
Combined, the grants support a developmental pipeline that takes architecture and design students from introductory training to the most sophisticated professional levels – a welcome boost at time when such skills are in increasing demand, according to School of Architecture and Design Dean Maria Perbellini.
“The school’s student population is growing,” Perbellini noted. “We are raising the bar by setting evolving ambitions.”
The IDC Foundation – which funds educational institutions around Greater New York advancing research and training in architectural design, engineering, building construction and related fields – first awarded New York Tech a $2 million grant in 2018, a transformational gift that led to interdepartmental collaborations, new degree programs and the acquisition of cutting-edge equipment.
Subsequent IDC funding – including this latest round, now totaling closer to $3 million – has supported scholarships, fellowships and the creation of New York Tech’s first endowed chair, along with the launch of post-professional architectural master’s degree programs focused on computational technologies and health and design.
The next-generation IDC “Fab Lab” opened last year in Old Westbury boasts vacuum-forming tools, laser cutters, Computer Numerical Control machines, an array of 3D printing equipment, simulation programs, augmented- and virtual-reality devices, advanced robotics systems and more – next-level stuff that architecture and design students at the Manhattan campus will now recognize and understand as they move through New York Tech’s professional-development cycle, according to Perbellini.
Design of the times: The “culture of making” is alive and well inside New York Tech’s “Fab Lab.”
“Students need to become familiar with 3D printing and robotic technology early in their design processes,” the dean said. “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.”
Announcing the new funding Oct. 26, IDC Foundation President Raymond Savino trumpeted New York Tech’s “growing leadership in this space and the vital roles that it plays in Greater New York and beyond.”
“The IDC Foundation is pleased to … help [the School of Architecture and Design] set a fast pace in the teaching of digital technologies and digital fabrication,” Savino added.
