History

The field of Information Technology encompasses the transmission, processing and storage of information. The Data Storage Systems Center (DSSC) is an interdisciplinary research and educational organization where faculty, students and researchers from a broad swath of academic disciplines collaborate in pioneering theory and experimental research that will lead to the next generation of information storage technology.

More than 60 Carnegie Mellon researchers are working on a variety of projects designed to advance information storage technology beyond the current frontiers of magnetic recording, optical data storage, probe-based systems, holographic and solid-state memory.

The DSSC has been helping industry design nanometer-scale technology that will ultimately lead to very fast, low-cost and compact information storage devices.

The center works closely with industry partners to define projects to help the $60 billion information storage market continue to grow and expand. The DSSC also maintains state-of-the-art facilities for its research programs including high-tech recording test stands, materials synthesis and characterization facilities and various scanned probe capabilities. In addition, the DSSC makes use of the extensive nanofabrication labs at Carnegie Mellon.