Conferences & Events
The Sustaining Performance under Stress Symposium was held in Austin, TX, on December 4-6, 2007

The 2nd Annual Sustaining Performance Under Stress Symposium will be held in Maryland. Feb 24-28, 2009. Announcement here.

Mission
Our mission at the Center for Strategic and Innovative Technologies (CSIT) is to serve the Science and Technology (S&T) needs of the Defense community in the fields of human factors engineering and biological/biochemical defense. To accomplish this end, we have the unique approach of combining the innovative cutting-edge science developed at The University of Texas at Austin with a multidisciplinary multi-Institutional research team. CSIT is proud to maintain professional liens with active soldiers and professionals in the U.S. Army, ROTC, and West Point Military Academy, as well as scientists at the Army Research Laboratory.

Vision
Our goal is to address evolving Homeland Security interests through research and development efforts at The University of Texas, and beyond, in biochemistry, biomedical engineering, human performance, neuroscience, and stress research.

Approach
CSIT develops and maintains partnerships between University and government laboratories, military facilities, and the private sector, to deliver precise answers that will inform U.S. Army training and doctrine, and to generate and translate University technologies to the marketplace for military and government benefit.

CSIT has a strong record of rapidly transitioning research to address emergent needs in Defense and National Security. Our interests include:
* Developing data display systems neuroergonomically designed to present information using intelligent software.
* Imaging and objective assessment systems to provide real-time monitoring of health and stress.
* Sensors for threat agents employing signatures for early alert of biological/biochemical threat conditions in a community.
* Discovery and mechanisms of host biosignatures in response to infection and toxicants.
* Normative health data discovery to fully describe a healthy soldier (cognitive, behavior, performance, neural structure & function) in order to make baseline comparisons detailing the beneficial and potentially negative effects of training and deployment

Rationale
The modern state of warfare is characterized by constant evolution and the need to adapt to asymmetric battle. Intense physical and cognitive demands, sleep deprivation, and extended periods of deployment have created a need to develop new paradigms by which the expertise resident at The University of Texas at Austin can generate information and technology deliverables to improve Soldier performance and survival in the short-term.

There is a niche for an entity that will enhance University performance and increase economic return to the benefit of the school, the state of Texas, and the nation. CSIT, together with the Office of Intellectual Property, fills this niche. CSIT identifies emerging research and engineering in the area of strategic and innovative technologies.