This year, Quilt members will have the opportunity to get a head start on understanding science drivers and research cyberinfrastructure needs in preparation to participate in an upcoming National Science Foundation Campus Cyberinfrastructure Program solicitation. The Quilt’s 2020 Virtual Campus Cyberinfrastructure (CC*) Program seminar series will address the different facets of preparatory work that will build the foundation for major grant proposal areas. The seminar content will use prior NSF CC* solicitation areas as context enabling regional networks to submit their own grant(s) as well as supporting their member institutions submissions. Virtual seminar series participants will take away a list of tangible actions preparing them to construct a proposal and develop specific ideas on how to support member institutions’ grant submissions.

The first seminar, “Determining Your Desired Role within Your Community and Submitting a Regional or Planning Grant“, will focus on regional network’s role in our R&E cyberinfrastructure ecosystem, not only from an infrastructure standpoint, but also as a trusted technology expert for member institutions, particularly for under-resourced institutions.  It also introduces regional network organizations to the “how-to” of enhancing their leadership positions within their communities by facilitating meaningful engagement with member institutions around the opportunities offered by the NSF CC* program.

Tuesday, July 14th – 3:00-4:30 pm ET kicks off this series of six dedicated seminars on the CC* Program. [Read the full description in The Quilt | Events]

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C. – MCNC today announced that Tracy Doaks will assume the role of president and CEO in August, providing new leadership and guidance for the growing non-profit focused on delivering high-performance Internet and networking, cloud services, cybersecurity, and other essential technologies for a diverse set of clients and communities throughout North Carolina.

Doaks replaces Jean Davis, who announced in December that she was stepping down to help care for her elderly parents, but has remained on staff to help provide a smooth transition for her successor. [Read the full press release on MCNC | News]

The Maryland Research and Education Network (MDREN) recently received the Campus Cyberinfrastructure Regional Award (ID 2018823) from the National Science Foundation (NSF) for Advancing Maryland Research and Education Network for Under-Resourced Institutions Through a Science DMZ and 10Gbps Upgrade.

MDREN provides advanced network services to education, research, and public service institutions throughout the State of Maryland and connections to regional and national resources. This high-speed networking infrastructure is especially vital to researchers and STEM educators in their community.

In the award proposal, MDREN identified six smaller, under-resourced and/or rural institutions in their community with serious limitations in accessing and transferring huge datasets amongst themselves and collaborators at NOAA, NASA, NIH, USGS, and others. The NSF award helps MDREN enable the full potential of these institutions by increasing network bandwidth 10x and adding a Science DMZ for data transfers from other sites. These upgrades allow researchers at each institution to reliably connect to supercomputers and big data repositories, increase computational capabilities, and increase inter-institution collaboration.

MDREN will also construct a special path from the science DMZ machine that will facilitate high speed transfer to each of the labs identified in the proposal. This makes transfers significantly faster than doing them through campus firewalls.

Through the NSF award, MDREN continues to serve their community and enable greater collaboration between rural, under-resourced institutions and their peer institutions in the greater Maryland region and around the world. [Read the full announcment at USM Center | News]