COLLABORATION Creative alliances help build a stronger cyberinfrastructureMany activities and goals are possible at Clemson University because of collaboration that involves reaching across the aisle and across disciplines. Our advancement in high performance computing is much more than a solo effort. 
iTiger is the start of a campuswide emphasis toward a new generation Technology developed by student-driven project allows fans to enjoy football in whole new dimensioniTiger is the start of a campuswide emphasis toward a new generation of wireless technology integration. A student-driven effort in application design and development, infrastructure, project management and game-day logistics, the project brings together the School of Computing in the College of Engineering and Science, Clemson Computing and Information Technology, and Clemson Athletics. The uncommon collaboration of this trio could eventually bring instant replay, game-day statistics, memorabilia and e-concessions to the fingertips of football fans sitting in the stands of Memorial Stadium using their own hand-held digital devices. Other possibilities for iTiger’s use within the stadium include instantly accessing public safety officials, interacting with other fans, submitting questions to the coach’s show, and ordering and paying for concessions for pickup or delivery. “We’re looking at how the stadium of the future may eventually operate and how other even larger forums in our environment have the potential to operate. We’re taking a social networking application and applying it to a sport venue. We hope to eventually use this application on a campuswide scope and, perhaps someday, citywide and beyond,” says Jim Bottum, vice provost for computing and information technology. Conference raises awareness and sparks collaboration across disciplinesEarlier this year Clemson hosted a national-level conference — CI Days — designed to explore innovative ways to integrate information technology into teaching, research and outreach programs. Nearly 350 faculty members, graduate students, information technology staff and state research partners came together for three days with national agencies and providers of cyberinfrastructure resources and services. The outcome was new working alliances to develop and deploy a strong cyberinfrastructure at Clemson and throughout the state. The conference was co-sponsored by several Clemson University divisions and a number of key corporate partners including Dell, Apple, SUN and Cisco. The effort also was supported by a national collaboration of computing and networking agencies including the National Science Foundation, the Department of Energy and EDUCAUSE. Clemson hosts virtual collaborative glass class for 10 institutionsAt a meeting of the Glass Division of the American Ceramic Society, university faculty lamented how, individually, they didn’t have enough enrollment to teach advanced glass classes. From that discussion was born a virtual collaborative class with enrollments from 10 institutions — Alfred University, Clemson University, Coe College, Iowa State University, Missouri S&T, UC Davis, University of Florida, Penn State, Michigan and University of Arizona — plus the National Science Foundation and the International Materials Institute for New Functionality in Glass. Clemson materials science and engineering professor Eric Skaar offered to host the virtual class using Clemson’s Adobe Connect Web conferencing technology, which provides an array of tools such as screen and document sharing, chat, whiteboards and surveys — a virtual environment very similar to the offerings of a traditional classroom. Each university provided a lecturer. Instructors found that collaborating across institutions for projects was not only feasible but in some cases preferred by students because of the collaborative environment. The faculty has taught the course twice with about 40 students in each section and is in the process of publishing its experiences through the American Society for Engineering Education. Skaar has also collaborated with researchers from the Savannah River Site to teach sections of Materials Processing (CME 319) virtually using Adobe Connect. |
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