Albright College has been awarded a $277,000 Pennsylvania Link-to-Learn grant for an innovative educational program in handheld wireless technology. The handheld wireless technology program will certify students to develop applications and design rich media for handheld mobile computing and personal digital assistants (PDAs) such as Palm Pilots. The $353,000 total project was developed jointly by Albright professors Daniel J. Falabella, Ph.D., chair of the Computer Science Department, and Anthony Crisafulli, MFA, director of Albright's Johnson Center for Digital Media. Governor Ridge announced the award on March 29.

Albright was one of only 21 colleges and universities awarded Link-to-Learn grants from a field of 115 applicants in a highly competitive process. The Link-to-Learn educational technology initiative is designed to ensure that college students in all areas of study receive technology training and to make sure that Pennsylvania businesses have tech-savvy workers.

With the prediction that one billion people worldwide will be using wireless mobile devices by 2003, the new handheld wireless technology program will prepare both undergraduates and working professionals for one of the fastest growing fields in information technology.

The interdisciplinary program will be offered as a skill-specific certification track within the computer science, digital media and information systems degree programs. The program will also be offered as a certificate program for working professionals.

Albright will begin the new program in fall 2001, and expects to eventually enroll about 150 undergraduates. The Link-to-Learn grant will provide funding for three specialized labs to be housed in a new wireless technology development center. Albright will develop educational CDs and video programs about wireless handheld technology that will be distributed free to Pennsylvania educational institutions.

The handheld wireless technology program also has a unique partnership aspect focused on the technology needs of community, business and local government. Some of the partnerships include Numoda Corporation, a leader in wireless mobile computing solutions, Ben Franklin Technology Partners -Northeastern Pennsylvania, Berks County's Muhlenberg Township and Muhlenberg School District, and the Reading Police Department. Students will design real-world solutions for real needs of users of handheld mobile computing. For example, students may design applications to assist police foot patrols in handling traffic and event parking.

"The program will serve as a model for new curricular integration that functions as an education pipeline to bridge the gap between traditional information technology disciplines and the new mobile IT requirements of Pennsylvania employers," said Crisafulli and Falabella.

"It creates a formal program that will enable developers and designers to learn the newest applications and expectations of mobile platforms and engage in the development of the new discipline of ephemeral architecture," Crisafulli and Falabella said. "Students need to be educated in the latest technologies that reflect current business trends. Programs like Albright's will help counteract Pennsylvania's brain drain, as it loses students to high-tech opportunities in other states."

Founded in 1856, Albright College is a private four-year college located in Reading, Pennsylvania. With 1,600 students and a 13:1 student/faculty ratio, Albright offers a rigorous liberal arts curriculum and pre-professional programs, and features interdisciplinary studies, flexible majors and undergraduate research. Recent programs include digital media, optical physics, information systems, environmental studies, Latin American studies and cultural anthropology. For more information about Albright and the new handheld wireless technology program, contact the Admission Office at 800-252-1856.