Girl using virtual reality headset

Where Innovation Meets Inspiration

From specialized learning environments and labs where students can master career-specific skills, to common areas where they can collaborate on a vast array of interdisciplinary projects, St. John’s University is buzzing with the latest technology, VR, artificial intelligence, and eSports. That is why our students graduate prepared for the future and inspired to do great things.  

St. John’s Students Learn with the Latest Technology

Media Arts and Design (MAD) Lab

The MAD Lab, as it is known on campus, is a collaboration between the College of Professional Studies and St. John’s College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. Here, students from both colleges study digital media, animation, illustration, graphic design, advertising, public relations, photography, television and film, and mass communication.

It features professional-level, Mac Pro work stations with Cintiq tablets—which are used in 3D modeling, illustration, and retouching photographs.

Technology Commons

Responding to the rapidly growing world of competitive gaming, the Technology Commons was created to give students a dedicated esports venue with optimized esports computers for students’ recreational and competitive use.

The space also features 30 MakerBot 3D printers where students execute their own designs, such as prosthetic hands and sculptures rendered though virtual reality technology, as well as other objects created in the nearby MAD Lab.

Sanford Family Cyber Security Lab

A specialized venue for learning, applying, and practicing the principles of computer and network security, the Sanford Family Cyber Security Lab is a place where students employ practical techniques for managing a variety of cyber security issues. Here, students learn critical skills necessary for careers in the field, including intrusion detection, network forensics investigation, and malware analysis.

Homeland Security Labs

The first of its kind in the Northeast, the Homeland Security/Emergency Management Simulation Lab provides a true-to-life virtual reality environment for students. Within the lab, students engage in interactive simulations of scenarios such as terrorist attacks, floods, nuclear strikes, hazardous material releases, and severe weather conditions, giving them the skills and confidence necessary to ensure the successful resolution of future real-life incidents and emergency management scenarios.

Pepper

Pepper is the world’s first social humanoid robot able to recognize faces and basic human emotions. A fixture in St. Augustine Hall, Pepper uses artificial intelligence to engage with students, faculty, and others through conversation and his touch screen.

Anatomage Tables

Found in St. Albert Hall, as well as the nearby Dr. Andrew J. Bartilucci Center, the University’s three Anatomage Tables represent the latest in virtual dissection table technology. The 84-inch-long table features a high-resolution touch screen that allows users the ability to visualize human anatomy and patient data—exactly as they would on a real cadaver. Each anatomical structure is accurately reconstructed in 3D and is sourced from actual human cadavers.

The Lesley and William Collins Business Analytics Lab

This 1,300-square-foot facility at The Peter J. Tobin College of Business is a teaching center that connects theory with modern market and business practices. It features 40 desktops with multiple Bloomberg terminal licenses, a video wall, and a color LED stock ticker.

Esports at St. John's

In recent years, as interest in eSports and video gaming has grown, so too have the resources and opportunities at St. John’s University. In 2018, the University built within the Technology Commons an eSports area with dedicated and optimized eSports computers for students’ recreational and competitive use.

The mission of St. John’s University eSports is to offer support for both recreational and competitive eSports players and teams; provide valuable resources and opportunities for the community; and maintain our core Vincentian values.

The mission of St. John’s University eSports is to offer support for both recreational and competitive eSports players and teams; provide valuable resources and opportunities for the community; and maintain our core Vincentian values.