Tag Archives: quilt members

SC18 brings supercomputing’s best and brightest to Dallas

Every November, thousands of researchers and industry representatives in high-performance computing and related fields, such as advanced networking, data storage, and data analysis, meet for the annual Supercomputing Conference (SC18) in Dallas, Texas, to learn about HPC and scientific applications and innovations from around the world.

SC18 marks the 30th Anniversary of the SC Conference Series, and hasn’t been back in Dallas for 18 years. This year’s event, with the theme “HPC Inspires” is set for Nov. 11-16 at the Kay Bailey Hutchinson Convention Center in Dallas. Exhibits will be on display Nov. 12-15.

HPC Inspires

Imagine the possibilities. Unlike any time in history, HPC allows us to analyze many points of data to make groundbreaking discoveries in all fields of inquiry, connecting humanity to the world around us as never before.

What is SCinet?

SCinet is a truly special collaboration among more than 180 highly-skilled volunteers from about 80 domestic and international organizations. All donate their time, energy, and unique skills to the overall success of the conference, with the generous support of their home institutions.

SCinet Chair Jason Zurawski is a Science Engagement Engineer at the Energy Sciences Network (ESnet) headquartered and managed by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. ESnet is the U.S. Department of Energy’s high-performance networking facility. In 2004, while Jason was a computer science graduate student, he volunteered to plan, build and operate SCinet, the SC Conference’s dedicated high-capacity network. SCinet supplies exhibitors with high-capacity feeds to run all their applications in addition to providing high-speed WiFi to more than 10,000 attendees. It is a giant task and requires the best in the business to create and manage it. Read more from Jason in this blog.

Quilt Members once again have joined many from the international supercomputing community to play an integral part of the annual event through demonstrations, booths, presentations and the building of SCinet. Those include: Great Plains Network (Booth 1035); Louisiana State University (Booth 1816); University of Utah (1828); Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center (2028); NCAR (Booth 2000); Indiana University (Booth 2400); Ohio Supercomputing Center (Booth 3037); Starlight (Booth 2851); and Pacific Wave (Booth 3158), just to name a few.

Another Win for WINS

Five women IT professionals have been selected to participate in the “Women in IT Networking at SC” (WINS) inclusivity program at SC18. They will join peers from around the globe to help build and operate SCinet.

This year’s WINS participants are:

  • Brenna Meade, telecom analyst at the University of Denver in Colorado
  • Erika Kindlimann, network security engineer at Oakland University in Rochester, Michigan
  • Jessa Westclark, network specialist at the University of Massachusetts Amherst
  • Kalina Dunn, network engineer at GlobalNOC at Indiana University
  • Loren Adams, network engineer at Georgia State University in Atlanta

In recognition for its work to provide professional development opportunities to highly-qualified women in the networking field, the WINS program received the 2017 Innovations in Networking Award for Experimental Applications presented by Quilt Member, CENIC. Read more about it.

This year’s WINS review committee was led by Wendy Huntoon of KINBER and included Carrie Gates of Securelytix, Eli Dart of ESnet, Dave Jent of GlobalNOC and the Quilt, John Kolb of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Amy Philipson of Pacific Northwest Gigapop, and Linda Winkler of Argonne National Laboratory.

WINS is funded by the NSF and the Department of Energy. It was initiated in 2015 as joint effort between ESnet, the Keystone Initiative for Network Based Education and Research (KINBER), the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR), and SCinet.

As of 2018, WINS has funded 24 women to participate in SCinet.

Staying in the Loop

Real-time event conversations can be found @Supercomputing on Twitter or using #SC18.

If you or others from Quilt Member institutions plan to attend SC18, we would like to hear from you and your experience for a future blog. Please contact us or Tweet us @TweetTheQuilt.

 

Happy Holidays from The Quilt

We wanted to take this opportunity to thank our fantastic community for your support and contributions over the last year.  Working together, our collective efforts advanced networking for research and education across the country.  We are excited about continuing our work together in 2016.

We look forward to seeing many of you in February at our Winter Meeting in La Jolla.

Again, thank you for what you do and your support. Happy Holidays to you and yours from The Quilt.

Spring has sprung for Quilt member events

Several of our Quilt members will be hosting networking events for their member communities across the country this spring, and we’ve highlighted a few that may be of interest. If you know of others or have an upcoming spring event that you want to share, please contact us.

2015 KINBER Annual Conference | April 15-16 (Harrisburg, Pennsylvania)

KINBER2015-web

Hundreds of Pennsylvania’s leaders in education, health care, economic development, libraries, public media and technology will share ideas and success stories about using next generation networks at the 2015 KINBER Annual Conference on April 15-16 at the Hilton Harrisburg. The event will host dozens of panels and speaker-led workshops as well as keynote speakers and professional development opportunities.

View the conference schedule here. Registration is now open.

BCNET Annual Conference | April 27-29 (Vancouver, British Columbia)

BCNET2015-web

The BCNET Annual Conference on April 27-29 in Vancouver is the leading opportunity to network with more than 600 higher education IT, network, enterprise systems, and education technology professionals. Learn and share ideas on insights, experiences, strategies, real-life solutions and more. The program is derived from their higher education IT member community and is hosted by Quilt Member BCNET, a not-for-profit shared information technology services organization serving British Columbia’s higher education and research institutions.

View the agenda and/or register to attend.

WiscNet Future Technologies Conference | May 11-12 (Madison, Wisconsin)

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The WiscNet Future Technologies Conference on May 11-12 is an annual gathering of the WiscNet membership held at the Monona Terrace in Madison, Wisconsin. Each year, several thought-provoking keynote speakers participate in addition to several breakout sessions featuring the great things going on across the membership.

WiscNet has 24 great sessions lined up for 2015. Registration currently is open.

2015 Merit Member Conference (MMC) | May 13-14 (Ann Arbor, Michigan)

MERIT2015-web

The 2015 Merit Member Conference (MMC) is set for May 13-14 at the Ann Arbor Marriott Ypsilanti at Eagle Crest in Michigan. The MMC is a community gathering on the state-of-the-art in IT for organizations, with a focus both on technology and on the many related policy, financial and social considerations of providing information services. Registration for the Merit Member Conference is open only to Merit Members, potential Members from higher education, K-12, libraries, government, health care and non-profits, and event sponsors. Merit Members who register for the full conference have the limited-time opportunity to register a colleague to attend the conference at no extra charge.

The full schedule is now available. Click here for more information and to register.

3rd Annual CEN Member Conference | May 15 (Hartford, Connecticut)

CEN2015-web

2015 marks the 3rd Annual Member Conference hosted by the Connecticut Education Network (CEN). More than 350 participants came out last year to network with their peers and to learn about the future of CEN and technology trends. CEN anticipates a wide range of participants drawn from educators (K-12 and higher ed), municipalities, libraries, local businesses and State of Connecticut agencies. This conference will draw together key stakeholders in the high-speed, fiber optical network from both hardware and end user perspectives.

Online registration is now open.

I-Light / Indiana GigaPOP Members Meeting | June 11-12 (Bloomington, Indiana)

ILight2015-web

I-Light continues to make an impact in communities across Indiana every day with many great stories to be heard from throughout their community. That is what the I-Light and Indiana GigaPOP Members Meeting is for on June 11-12 inside Wrubel Commons, Cyberinfrastructure Building at IU Bloomington,

Registration and other details coming soon. In the meantime, check out last year’s archive.

2015 OSHEAN Member Forum | June 12 (New England Institute of Technology)

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OSHEAN’s Annual Member Forum is scheduled for Friday, June 12, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the New England Institute of Technology, East Greenwich campus. The program agenda for this year’s event is still being finalized … more details to come. To register, click here.

The Quilt welcomes CAAREN as our newest affiliate member

The Quilt is pleased to welcome the Capital Area Advanced Research and Education Network (CAAREN) as our newest affiliate member. CAAREN is working to facilitate world-class research, education and knowledge sharing in the nation’s capital.

Powered by the George Washington University, CAAREN is an initiative designed to build a high-performance research and education network infrastructure serving the Washington, D.C., and Northern Virginia areas.

CAAREN is partnering with DC-Net, a program managed by the DC Office of the Chief Technology Officer (OCTO), to reach public and private K-12 schools, public libraries, museums, hospitals and independent research organizations as part of the Sponsored Education Group Participants (SEGP) program at Internet2 under the United States Unified Community Anchor Network (U.S. UCAN).

Their goal is to bring the rich capabilities of the Internet2 community deeper into the communities around research institutions. Also, using the George Washington University’s dense wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM) infrastructure, CAAREN has established a connection to Internet2’s established fiber paths throughout the country and will be looking to connect individual customers to this network in situations where commercial service providers are unable to do so.

CAAREN is a research network built to support the most demanding research, with a dedicated 100Gbps connection to Internet2’s Advanced Layer 2 Service (AL2S).  The network consists of a Juniper MX480 with 100Gbps, 10Gbps and 1Gbps interfaces. To reach Internet2, they use GW’s DWDM infrastructure.  Currently, they have four circuits enabled to reach the Advanced Layer 3 Service IP services nodes in Washington and New York (IPv4 and IPv6 are on separate circuits, for a total of four).

“We are happy to welcome CAAREN to The Quilt,” said Quilt President and CEO Jen Leasure. “This new network will greatly enhance collaboration and reduce barriers to research, education and health applications to support the DC area.”

To learn more about the CAAREN, visit www.caaren.org or follow them on Twitter @CAARENgw.

 

Quilt 2015 Winter Member Meeting: Support for research and more

Nearly 100 representatives from our Quilt member organizations have registered for our 2015 Winter Member Meeting in La Jolla next month. This year’s event will be at the Shores Hotel and La Jolla Beach and Tennis Club in California on Feb. 10-12. And, in addition to some California sunshine, we also have a high-energy agenda to warm you up during these chilly February days.

Before the formal event gets underway, we will have our CEO Roundtable discussion on Tuesday afternoon, which continues to be our semiannual tradition where executive leaders from R&E networks meet with peers for a roundtable exchange of views, concerns and opportunities. This session is open to all with primary participation by CEOs of R&E networking organizations.

We officially get going on Wednesday, and we have some great topics of conversations lined up.

We start with an informative briefing/overview of CC*IIE Regional Collaboration Awards featuring KINBER, OARnet, GPN, FRGP, and Clemson University. Also joining us for our member meeting to provide invited addresses are: Kevin Thompson, Program Director at the NSF to update us from the National Science Foundation Division of Advanced Cyberinfrastructure; Jason Zurawski of ESnet to speak on Big Data Trends and the Key Role of the Regionals in Bridging Needs and Solutions; and representatives from the FCC to provide an overview of FCC Broadband Programs and Opportunities for R&E Networks.

Of course there will be plenty of time to network and catch up with colleagues as well as attend a number of member briefings and breakout sessions throughout the meeting on topics such as, advanced networking, network security, R&E networking community building and much more.

Click here to view the full agenda.

Finally, after receiving positive feedback from our original leadership workshop attendees and requests from other members, we will host a second Leadership Workshop at the conclusion of the 2015 Winter Member Meeting facilitated by Don Welch, President and CEO of Quilt member Merit Network. This will be another opportunity for Quilt member staff to further develop its leadership skills.

If you have not registered, please be sure to do so by Jan. 23. Online registration is available and space is limited.

You can follow the conversation now and throughout the meeting using #WMM15 or @TweettheQuilt.

We look forward to seeing you in February!

The Quilt expands membership to include Networkmaine

We are pleased to welcome Networkmaine as new member of The Quilt this past month.

Networkmaine

Networkmaine was established in 2009 within the University of Maine System to help shape the future of Maine’s research and education network, MaineREN. The organization operates through a coordinating council which is comprised of the University of Maine System, the Maine Department of Education, the Maine State Library, and the Maine Office of Information Technology.

The primary focus of Networkmaine is the design and operation of MaineREN and services developed to support education, research, public service, government and economic development. In addition to serving higher-education and research, Networkmaine also provides schools and libraries in the state with Internet connectivity at little or no cost through the Maine School and Library Network project, or MSLN project. More than 98 percent of Maine’s K-12 schools and libraries participate in MSLN. Last year, Networkmaine also began operating Wi-Fi networks at 240 middle schools and high schools as part of the Maine Department of Education’s 1:1 computing initiative.

MaineREN is more than 1,500 miles of optical fiber extending from Fort Kent, Maine to Cambridge and from Calais to Bethel. The network serves nearly 200,000 students and more than 1,000 schools and libraries throughout the entire state on a daily basis. While the primary service over MaineREN is a common Layer-3 network, Networkmaine also provides Layer 1 and Layer 2 transport services, videoconferencing services, basic e-mail and web hosting services, and managed Wi-Fi services.

“We have participated in Quilt meetings for the past few years as members of the Northern Crossroads and have found the information/knowledge sharing invaluable,” said Networkmaine Executive Director Jeff Letourneau. “We feel it is time that Networkmaine become more actively involved in supporting and participating in this community by becoming a Quilt member.”

Looking forward, Networkmaine is currently working on interconnecting three northern New England states with each other and with Internet2 in Albany, N.Y. This initiative is being done in collaboration with UNH, Dartmouth College, and UVM. They also are working to establish a pair of 10G paths for CANARIE down the coast of Maine to Cambridge which they can leverage as redundant path for the Maritime Provinces and perhaps an additional peering between CANARIE and Internet2.

We continue to see great excitement in R&E networking in New England, and we’re happy to have Networkmaine join our Quilt community.

Quilt member communities find opportunity at awesome June events

As we officially head into summer later this month, Quilt members UEN, OSHEAN, and I-Light/Indiana GigaPoP have some great events lined up for their member communities in June.

UEN 2014 Tech Summit (Draper, Utah)

uenThe Utah Education Network (UEN) will host UEN 2014 Tech Summit on June 11-12 at The Loveland Living Planet Aquarium. This new facility in Draper is nearly 140,000 square feet and features marine, freshwater, and rain forest exhibit galleries, a banquet hall and an education center with classrooms.

UEN is pleased to welcome keynotes Steve Eldredge and Robert Sears for this year’s event. Steve is a senior manager at Adobe Systems and currently serves on BYU’s Marriott School Undergraduate Advisory Board mentoring young entrepreneurs and business students. Robert works with N-Wave, NOAA’s science network. During his talk, he will discuss how this infrastructure supports NOAA science. The agenda also has many more great topics for participants.

This looks to be another awesome event planned for this year and showcased on a fantastic event landing page.

2014 OSHEAN Member Forum (East Greenwich, Rhode Island)

osheanThe Ocean State Higher Education Economic Development and Administrative Network will host the 2014 OSHEAN Member Forum on June 13 from 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. at the New England Institute of Technology in Rhode Island.

During this year’s forum, OSHEAN and participants will explore a variety of technical topics with presentations from members and experts on Web Filtering, Desktop as a Service (DaaS), Data Storage, Cloud Computing Solutions, VoIP Services and more. Click here to review the agenda, or to review the detailed agenda, click here.

Registration is open until the day of the event. More than 100 people already are planning to attend. Register now.

I-Light and Indiana GigaPOP Members Meeting (Notre Dame, Indiana)

ilightI-Light and the Indiana GigaPoP will host a Members Meeting on June 19 -20 in South Bend at the Morris Inn on the campus of the University of Notre Dame.

Topics this year include cloud “infrastructure as a Service” 101 and tour of Amazon Web Services, the I-Light and Internet2 Net+ partnership on delivering cloud services, infrastructure support models and cyber infrastructure for research, identity management, campus WiFi  pilots, and a great panel discussion on NSF CC*IIE.

Click here to register for the conference. You also can view the conference agenda and see who is attending this year by clicking here.

G’day mates, Australia’s VERNet joins The Quilt

The Quilt is pleased to introduce new affiliate member VERNet as we expand our membership beyond North America.

VERNet designs, builds, operates and manages a network in Victoria, Australia that enables educators, researchers and students to exchange ideas and communicate faster. The network is the Victorian Education and Research Network (VERN) and is the preferred supplier of high-bandwidth connectivity to the research and education sector in Victoria providing customers with leading-edge technology and services at affordable rates.

Establishedvernet in 2004, VERNet provides Layer 1, 2 and 3 services to nine universities and the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) This network is fiber-based and spans more than 2,000 kilometers providing more than 231 services to universities, CSIRO and other research organisations including 26 hospitals from 1Gbps to 100Gbps.

The company is a licensed telecommunications carrier with all members also serviced by the national carrier AARNet. Members procure Layer 1, 2 or 3 from VERNet and then a range of higher-layer services from the national carrier such as commodity internet, videoconferencing, NET+ cloud services, and Eduroam. The company also has a unique, dedicated high-speed research network up to 10Gbps, connecting six Victorian research precincts.

VERNet CEO Roger Tanton explained that VERNet pursued affiliation with The Quilt because of its vibrant involvement and volunteer contributions of its members, and because researchers in Victoria would like to collaborate more with researchers in North America and share data across a wide range of disciplines.

“I was fortunate enough to attend the Quilt Fall 2013 Conference and would be very pleased if VERNet staff could serve on technical, administrative and financial committees or as resources for The Quilt,” he noted. “We have found that RNOs across the world tend to use the same vendors, similar business and even corporate governance models, and the company would like to be a part of this collegiate community and assist where possible.”

The research and education sector in Australia is serviced by the national carrier (AARNet) and two incorporated regional carriers, VERNet in the state of Victoria, and SABRENet in South Australia.

“We are thrilled to have our first affiliate member on another continent,” said Quilt President and CEO Jen Leasure. “This is great way for us to grow our R&E network collaborations and for VERNet to benchmark its network operations with other regional networks located in North America.”

Quilt members to host amazing May events

There are some awesome networking events by Quilt members happening all over the country this month. We’ve highlighted three upcoming events in May that may be of interest.

MCRCon 2014 and 2014 Merit Member Conference (Ann Arbor, Michigan)

MeritMemberMeeting2014The 2014 Merit Member Conference (MMC) on May 21-22 will be at the Ann Arbor Marriott Ypsilanti at Eagle Crest.

The MMC is a community gathering on the state of the art in IT for organizations, with a focus both on technology and on the many related policy, financial and social considerations of providing information services. Featured speakers include John C. Dvorak, Technology Author, Columnist and Broadcaster; Johannes M. Bauer, Professor, Telecommunication, Information Studies and Media, Michigan State University; and J. Alex Halderman, Assistant Professor, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, University of Michigan.

View the agenda and/or register to attend.

Prior to the Merit Member Conference, MCRCon 2014 will be on May 20. MCRCon is a cybersecurity conference hosted by the Michigan Cyber Range, which also will be held at the Ann Arbor Marriott Ypsilanti at Eagle Crest.

2014 CEN Annual Member Conference (Hartford, Connecticut)

CEN2014

Last year CEN delivered its first annual conference for its members. Almost 300 participants came out to network with their peers, learn about the future of CEN, and technology trends in schools and libraries. The 2014 CEN Annual Member Conference is expected to be bigger and better on Thursday, May 22, at the Connecticut Convention Center.

Susannah Spellman, Executive Director of U.S. & Canada, Internet 2, will be this year’s keynote speaker.

Registration for this year’s event is open.

Great Plains Network 2014 Annual Meeting (Kansas City, Missouri)

GPN2014

The Annual Meeting of the Great Plains Network and Greater Western Library Alliance brings together knowledge and IT professionals including advanced network and cyberinfrastructure users, faculty members, researchers, librarians, information technology staff, and graduate students from leading universities and higher education networks.

This year’s theme is Surviving the Data Deluge: Computation, Storage, Networks and People with highlights including a new venue at The InterContinental Hotel in Kansas City Plaza; Big Data Summit II – Data: The Heart of Scholarship; the Opening Exhibitor Preview; Gala Poolside Reception; and the expansion of “no-conflict time” with exhibitors.

The full schedule is now available. Click here for more information and to register.