U.S.–Finland Team Receives Bilateral Academic Research Award to Advance Future Information Architecture for IoT

The Department of Defense today announced the selection of a team of American and Finnish academic researchers to investigate the fundamental questions that may give rise to revolutionary advances in future communication systems.

Awarded through the Bilateral Academic Research Initiative (BARI), the "Self-Programmable Metasurface Networks for Wireless Communications and IoT (internet of things)," project is led by professor Andrea Alu at the City University in New York and professor Sergei Tretyakov at Aalto University in Finland. The team also includes researchers from Northeastern University in Boston, University of Texas at Austin, and University of Helsinki.

The BARI program allows academic teams from the United States and partner countries to merge their unique skill sets and resources to pursue high-risk basic research. During the U.S.-Finland project's four-year period of performance, the U.S. research team will receive up to $4 million from the Basic Research Office within the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering while the Finnish team will receive up to €3 million (about $3.3 million) from the Research Council of Finland.

"The BARI program showcases the remarkable potential of international collaboration. By combining the diverse perspectives and expertise of leading scientists from the U.S. and Finland, this initiative will drive important advancements in scientific fields of mutual interest to both nations," said Dr. Bindu Nair, director for basic research at R&E.

"It is wonderful that our first bilateral joint call with the U.S. Department of Defense has proven to be a great success, enabling cutting-edge collaborative research efforts where teams from Finland and the United States combine unique expertise to provide rapid advances in fundamental science," said professor Paula Eerola, president of the Research Council of Finland.

This project, which is jointly sponsored by the OUSD(R&E) Basic Research Office and the Research Council of Finland, seeks to explore materials and devices, network science and embedded intelligence, and human interactions.

For more information on the Basic Research Office, please visit: http://basicresearch.defense.gov/

About USD(R&E)

The Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering (USD(R&E)) is the Chief Technology Officer of the Department of Defense. The USD(R&E) champions research, science, technology, engineering, and innovation to maintain the U.S. military's technological advantage. Learn more at www.cto.mil or visit us on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/ousdre.