Information Technology

USC has long embraced the importance of innovation in information technology, and has created an environment where progress in the space thrives. The faculty and students at USC conducting research in information technology are changing how we connect with one another, now and in the future.

USC students Shahzad Tiwana and Sean Rad had a vision for organizing multiple email accounts into a single location. What they invented was a sophisticated, yet simple application that integrates email, instant messaging, and social networking accounts with one log-in from any web browser or cell phone.  Born Orgoo Inc., it's a company with a funny name and serious business investors who appreciate the impact this innovation will have on social networking.

USC alumnus Andrew J. Viterbi was one of the first students to earn a doctorate in electrical engineering from USC in 1962 and continued to be a pioneer throughout his career. Through the creation of a groundbreaking algorithm that eliminated signal interference, called the Viterbi Algorithm, he moved society from the world of analog to the age of digital communication. He co-founded QUALCOMM in 1985 and today the company has 1,700 U.S. patents issued for its breakthrough technologies.

Business and government alike are seeking more efficient ways to communicate in a global economy. Launched from USC's Information Sciences Institute by USC faculty members Kevin Knight and Daniel Marcu, Language Weaver, Inc. has emerged as a state-of-the-art translation software system that crosses the language barrier. Using a statistical approach to translation that allows computers to learn from existing human work, Language Weaver has pioneered a quicker and more accurate method to automated translation. Language Weaver has more than 50 patents pending worldwide on its proprietary technology.

Audyssey Laboratories was conceived at USC's Immersive Audio Laboratory under the direction of Sunil Bharitkar, Philip Hilmes, Chris Kyriakakis, and Tomlinson Holman – the latter of whom won an Academy Award for his work in developing LucasFilm Ltd's THX Sound System. The company has revolutionized how sound is heard, correcting sound distortion through a system which accurately measures a room and corrects time and frequency problems. The result is a clear and natural sound, unheard of before in the home theater.

TrellisWare Technologies, Inc. is the brainchild of USC faculty members Andreas Polydoros and Keith Chugg and USC alumni Tom Carter and Jeff Thomas. The company is at the forefront of digital communications, providing software and hardware innovations to improve wireless capabilities. One of the company's most innovative technologies is a patented digital signal processing technique called Per Survivor Processing (PSP), developed by Dr. Polydoros.

Home to more than 300 researchers, graduate students, and staff, USC's Information Sciences Institute (ISI) has been a leading research center in computer science and information technology for 30 years.  ISI emerged as one of the birthplaces of the ARPANET, the predecessor to the Internet, and its work has influenced such areas as artificial intelligence, robotics, computer security, and Internet communications and advanced networking.

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