Bucks was awarded a nearly $350,000 grant from the National Science Foundation for technology services used mostly in the new Science Center that is being built on campus.
Dr. Andrew Lawlor, the CIO of Information Technology Services and Principal Investigator, and a team of faculty members heard about the opportunity for the grant and began to write a proposal based upon the requirements.
They learned Bucks was awarded the grant in late August and started the planning process. The grant covers a two year period that will bring about $350,000 worth of equipment and services to the college.
Dr. Lawlor’s team includes Ron Smith, Director of Networks and Infrastructure, who developed the network’s plans and will have a key role in the implementation of the new network. Lisa Angelo, the Dean of the STEM department, assisted in finding faculty members for the case and will promote the use of the network among the college faculty.
Also, Patricia Smallacombe, the college’s grant coordinator whose expertise is in developing grant applications and following requirements, ensures that our submitted proposals are given due to consideration.
Dr. Lawlor says, “This is a cyberinfrastructure grant from the Directorate for Computer & Information Science & Engineering of the National Science Foundation.” “The grant supports the use of advance networks for research and education,” he adds.
The money will help with the development of a high speed and capacity network that is limited to research projects and educational experiences. Dr. Lawlor explains, “This network will not solely be housed in the new Science Center, but will connect workstations in there that will access the new network once the building is completed.”
This grant is going to provide Bucks with a network for faculty members to conduct research and get students involved so they can gain experience with using high capacity networks for data-intensive projects.
Dr. Lawlor refers to this as “big data.” He adds that the network “will have the capability to support big data applications and research.”
He uses the example of what the engineering discipline will have. He explains that they will have the ability to transmit video from their drone research at high speeds on an outdoor wireless network.
There will also be a connection to Internet2, which is a special research and education network that has resources not generally available from commercial Internet providers.
The grant team has plans to provide the faculty with information about the applications so they can choose to use them to advance understanding of concepts in the classroom.
Overall, this is going to benefit the entire campus, not only the new Science building. Students will have the opportunities to learn more based on the technology that will be provided and learn how to do more in depth data research.
Bucks is the only community college granted this award but we are also partnering with the University of Pennsylvania.
Dr. Lawlor explains that the University of Pennsylvania has “a great wealth of experience with high speed networks and research projects and are advising Bucks on our network design and research and education planning.”
They will aid in the design, provide technical services to ensure the network meets the current and future needs.
In addition Bucks is also reaching out to KINBER, an organization that operates the Pennsylvanina Education and Research Network (PennREN). Bucks currently utilizes it for a majority of our Internet access, as well as the Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center.
For more information on the grant, contact Dr. Andrew Lawlor at [email protected] and for more information on the new science building and the STEM department, contact [email protected].