Private Giving
Penn State Intercom......February 14, 2002

3M gift gives engineering
students high-speed
fiber optic network

A high-speed, fiber optic communication network designed to give businesses the ability to respond quickly to market changes will now be used to teach University engineering students about real-time decision making, thanks to a gift from 3M Co.

Company representatives unveiled the 3M Volition™ fiber optic network at a recent ceremony in the Center for Manufacturing Enterprise Integration, part of the Harold and Inge Marcus Department of Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering, on the University Park campus.

The 3M gift is valued at $275,000 and includes a $25,000 gift to support a graduate student research position.

Vittal Prabhu, the center's director and assistant professor of industrial engineering, describes the network as "Light Band Internet." The network uses fiber optics, allowing for ultra-fast communications and real-time decision making.

"Competitors are using technology to seamlessly integrate their supply and demand chains with execution systems, so that they can respond immediately to new orders and changes in the market," Prabhu said.

The 3M system allows for the fast transmission of voice, video and data over the network and gives users a greater bandwidth than with conventional copper-based products.

According to the company, its system also is more cost-effective than traditional fiber products.

3M is a $16 billion diversified technology company with leading positions in electronics, telecommunications, industrial, consumer and office, health care, safety and other markets. The company, which is headquartered in St. Paul, Minn., has operations in nearly 200 countries. 3M's Contributions Program is made up of cash and in-kind gifts made by 3M, and the 3M Foundation and is bolstered by employee and retiree volunteerism. In 2001, the company donated more than $47 million to educational and charitable institutions.

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