 Center members span eight departments and four colleges.RIT has collaborated with many industry players in the field of research as well, including IBM, Xerox, Rochester's "Democrat and Chronicle", Siemens, NASA, and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).In 2005, it was announced by Russell W. Bessette, Executive Director New York State Office of Science Technology & Academic Research (NYSTAR), that RIT will lead the University at Buffalo and Alfred University in an initiative to create key technologies in microsystems, photonics, nanomaterials, and remote sensing systems and to integrate next generation IT systems.