UOIT partners with SHARCNET to spearhead deployment of groundbreaking technology for research collaboration
February 7, 2007
Thanks to its partnership in a leading high-performance computing network, the University of Ontario Institute of Technology (UOIT) is using groundbreaking technology to bring scientists and students from different locations across Ontario together to share important research ideas, and will soon be taking this technology to the classroom to maximize the learning experience for graduate students.
UOIT is one of 16 academic institutions in the Shared Hierarchical Academic Research Computing Network (SHARCNET), a high-performance computing network with nodes linked by advanced fibre optics technology, that is funded by the Canada Foundation for Innovation, the Province of Ontario, and industrial partners such as Hewlett-Packard, Bell Canada, Nortel Networks, ORANO, Platform Computing, Quadrics, and Silicon Graphics.
Through the collaborative facilities of AccessGrid (AG), a group-to-group interaction add-on to SHARCNET, UOIT is now spearheading its deployment for research collaboration opportunities, the first step of which is the SHARCNET Research Seminar Series being accessed by participating SHARCNET sites across Ontario.
By utilizing AG, multiple SHARCNET partners can participate in any of the seminars, and guest speakers can be based at any SHARCNET location. The series runs on the third Monday of each month (the first seminar was in January) and sees scientists share their experiences related to high-performance computing in their research. UOIT expects to deliver its seminar in the series in April.
"This groundbreaking technology offers UOIT students and faculty endless research collaboration possibilities and adds to our reputation for using the latest available technology to deliver a leading-edge learning and research environment," said Dr. William Smith, dean of UOIT's Faculty of Science. "This technology is a significant advancement from video conferencing, utilizing multiple cameras and display monitors, thereby truly placing all participants in the same virtual room and on the same page. This greatly reduces the need for travel, and maximizes the opportunities for multiple institutions to collaborate or learn about research that is to the benefit of society."
The seminar series only represents the beginning of the exploitation of AG's tremendous opportunities for UOIT faculty and students. UOIT plans to use AG to deliver most of the courses in the UOIT-Trent University Master of Science in Materials Science program, which is awaiting final approval for startup in September 2007. UOIT will also participate in the use of AG to deliver a jointly offered course in high-performance computing across several SHARCNET institutions later this year as part of its Master of Science in Modelling and Computational Science program.
Speakers at each site can deliver either an entire lecture or parts of one, and participants can see the audiences at all sites via multiple windows on the display panels. They can also ask or answer questions from any site and be seen and heard by all. UOIT is using the seminar series in part to experiment with different configurations for the cameras, microphones, and other equipment to maximize the benefits of AG during course and seminar delivery.
To prepare for delivery of the Master of Science in Materials Science program, Trent is in the process of developing its SHARCNET infrastructure and will use UOIT as a model for its own AG setup.
SHARCNET is also utilizing the technology to host meetings between faculty and graduate students working at different sites, for research team meetings, and between SHARCNET site leaders. For example, Dr. Dhavide Aruliah at UOIT regularly meets on AG with his mathematics PhD student based at the University of Western Ontario.
"Course delivery through Access Grid truly represents an innovative achievement for UOIT and Trent in delivery of its planned graduate program," said Dr. Smith. "We believe that delivering this program with Trent and delivering courses across multiple sites in Ontario are only the first steps in transforming graduate education delivery and advancing research via this advanced technology. By collaborating with various grid consortia across Canada, there is the ultimate potential to deliver courses and seminars nation-wide and thereby maximize research opportunities at all partner institutions."
SHARCNET'S state-of-the-art, high-performance computing facilities are hundreds or thousands of times faster than a regular desktop computer, allowing a researcher using SHARCNET to produce results in a single day that would normally take a year or more on a personal computer. UOIT researchers are using the network in many ways, including research by Dr. Fedor Naumkin, a computational chemist, on the molecular-based design of novel nanomaterials.
Anyone interested in learning more about SHARCNET and AG can visit www.sharcnet.ca/Facilities/accessgrid.php.
UOIT is one of 16 academic institutions in the Shared Hierarchical Academic Research Computing Network (SHARCNET), a high-performance computing network with nodes linked by advanced fibre optics technology, that is funded by the Canada Foundation for Innovation, the Province of Ontario, and industrial partners such as Hewlett-Packard, Bell Canada, Nortel Networks, ORANO, Platform Computing, Quadrics, and Silicon Graphics.
Through the collaborative facilities of AccessGrid (AG), a group-to-group interaction add-on to SHARCNET, UOIT is now spearheading its deployment for research collaboration opportunities, the first step of which is the SHARCNET Research Seminar Series being accessed by participating SHARCNET sites across Ontario.
By utilizing AG, multiple SHARCNET partners can participate in any of the seminars, and guest speakers can be based at any SHARCNET location. The series runs on the third Monday of each month (the first seminar was in January) and sees scientists share their experiences related to high-performance computing in their research. UOIT expects to deliver its seminar in the series in April.
"This groundbreaking technology offers UOIT students and faculty endless research collaboration possibilities and adds to our reputation for using the latest available technology to deliver a leading-edge learning and research environment," said Dr. William Smith, dean of UOIT's Faculty of Science. "This technology is a significant advancement from video conferencing, utilizing multiple cameras and display monitors, thereby truly placing all participants in the same virtual room and on the same page. This greatly reduces the need for travel, and maximizes the opportunities for multiple institutions to collaborate or learn about research that is to the benefit of society."
The seminar series only represents the beginning of the exploitation of AG's tremendous opportunities for UOIT faculty and students. UOIT plans to use AG to deliver most of the courses in the UOIT-Trent University Master of Science in Materials Science program, which is awaiting final approval for startup in September 2007. UOIT will also participate in the use of AG to deliver a jointly offered course in high-performance computing across several SHARCNET institutions later this year as part of its Master of Science in Modelling and Computational Science program.
Speakers at each site can deliver either an entire lecture or parts of one, and participants can see the audiences at all sites via multiple windows on the display panels. They can also ask or answer questions from any site and be seen and heard by all. UOIT is using the seminar series in part to experiment with different configurations for the cameras, microphones, and other equipment to maximize the benefits of AG during course and seminar delivery.
To prepare for delivery of the Master of Science in Materials Science program, Trent is in the process of developing its SHARCNET infrastructure and will use UOIT as a model for its own AG setup.
SHARCNET is also utilizing the technology to host meetings between faculty and graduate students working at different sites, for research team meetings, and between SHARCNET site leaders. For example, Dr. Dhavide Aruliah at UOIT regularly meets on AG with his mathematics PhD student based at the University of Western Ontario.
"Course delivery through Access Grid truly represents an innovative achievement for UOIT and Trent in delivery of its planned graduate program," said Dr. Smith. "We believe that delivering this program with Trent and delivering courses across multiple sites in Ontario are only the first steps in transforming graduate education delivery and advancing research via this advanced technology. By collaborating with various grid consortia across Canada, there is the ultimate potential to deliver courses and seminars nation-wide and thereby maximize research opportunities at all partner institutions."
SHARCNET'S state-of-the-art, high-performance computing facilities are hundreds or thousands of times faster than a regular desktop computer, allowing a researcher using SHARCNET to produce results in a single day that would normally take a year or more on a personal computer. UOIT researchers are using the network in many ways, including research by Dr. Fedor Naumkin, a computational chemist, on the molecular-based design of novel nanomaterials.
Anyone interested in learning more about SHARCNET and AG can visit www.sharcnet.ca/Facilities/accessgrid.php.
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