Lucent Announcement Lights Up Centennial Campus

The company announced Wednesday thatit will build a major research and development facilityon the Centennial Campus.

The Triangle may not have caught up to Silicon Valley yet, but Wednesday, the talk of the town was "Photon Valley."

Photons are particles of light that can transmit data and images faster than fiber optic cables. Thanks to Lucent,N.C. Statewill be a part of that research.

By spring of 2000, Lucent will have a lab housed on the campus. The company will employ 500 people, 300 of who will be new hires. The new employees could include students at N.C. State, like Brent Bischoff.

"Being able to interview with Lucent and express to them what I've gained, the hands-on, by doing so they offered me a position," Bischoff says.

Students would not be guaranteed employment, but they will gain access to Lucent Technology's research.

Lucent Technology is a leader in computer networking research and N.C. State believes this partnership will allow its students to be part of cutting edge technology.

"That model includes involving students at a very early part of their graduate and undergraduate careers in interacting strongly with mentors and experts," says N.C. State Chancellor Marye Anne Fox.

The location at N.C. State is Lucent's fifth in the state, including one in Cary.