NEW YORK—NYU WIRELESS announced that AT&T joined the university research center as an affiliate sponsor—a three-year commitment to collaborating on the next generation of mobile network technology. Their research aims to ensure that the telecommunications industry can stay ahead of the demands of its users, who are consuming data at an ever-increasing pace and scale.

In addition to supporting the center’s research activities, including its pioneering work at millimeter wave frequencies, AT&T Group President and Chief Strategy Officer John Stankey will give the keynote address at the first “Brooklyn 5G Summit,” an invitation-only meeting of wireless technology leaders. It will be held at the NYU Tandon School of Engineering in Brooklyn, New York, on April 24-25, 2014. Stankey will offer a carrier’s perspective on the evolution of the industry and mobile network technology.

NYU WIRELESS is a new research center at the NYU School of Engineering that includes more than 20 faculty and 100 graduate students. Their leading research in wireless communications systems, signals, and antennas at the millimeter wave frequency bands responds to a reported annual doubling of demand for capacity due to increasing levels of gaming, Web browsing, and music and video streaming.

“AT&T has long been a giant in the telecommunications world, and we are pleased that our faculty and students will be working closely with the company,” said Professor Theodore (Ted) Rappaport, NYU WIRELESS director and founder. “We are proud and delighted to have AT&T’s support as we work to advance the next generation of wireless communications.” Rappaport holds the David Lee/Ernst Weber Chair in the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department of the NYU School of Engineering as well as appointments in NYU’s Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences and in the Department of Radiology at NYU Langone Medical Center.

AT&T becomes the seventh major international technology firm to join NYU WIRELESS as an affiliate sponsor. Each industrial affiliate company assigns two board members to the research center’s industrial affiliates board, ensuring an unusually deep working relationship. These directors inform the faculty and students about what is important to the industry, and the academics bring new ideas to their corporate thinking. Sponsors get early access to NYU WIRELESS research and often work with students and faculty on directed research projects. The sponsors also frequently hire NYU School of Engineering students into positions of leadership.