New Access Grid nodeMiami 02 October 2001 A new Access Grid node to be installed at Florida International University (FIU) in Miami will serve as the first node in a testbed for US Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs). The testbed will give MSIs the chance to use the Access Grid and its resources and to become contributing members of the Access Grid research community as it spreads throughout the world.
The Access Grid (http://www.accessgrid.org/) is an integrated audio and visual environment that supports distributed meetings, remote visualization and collaboration, and distance education. The Access Grid is a National Computational Science Alliance (Alliance) project led by Argonne National Laboratory. Funds from the National Science Foundation's Advanced Networking with Minority Serving Institutions (AN-MSI) program will pay for the estimated $60,000 in equipment needed to set up the node on the south campus of FIU.
The AN-MSI program aims to help US colleges that traditionally serve African Americans, Hispanics, and Native Americans develop the infrastructure needed to take advantage of advanced computational tools and resources. AN-MSI provides funding to the Education, Outreach and Tranining Partnership for Advanced Computational Infrastructure (EOT-PACI) program and to the Alliance Access and Inclusion program, an EOT-PACI partner.
FIU is a perfect candidate for an Access Grid node because it already has the high bandwidth networking needed for a node. It is connected to Internet2's Abilene research network and is the U.S. connection to the Pathway of the Americas (AMPATH) project, a network that connects to research institutions in Mexico, Central and South America, and the Caribbean. Long-term plans include establishing Access Grid nodes at more MSIs in the U.S. and at sites connected to AMPATH.
Longoria, who studies natural disasters and runs a lab with direct access to the Internet2 backbone, plans to use the new Grid node for computer simulations and visualizations of natural phenomena. He will also use it to expand a project with the Miami-Dade School District, which provides teachers with remote access to teaching and research facilities in an effort to improve earth and space science curricula.
Equipment needed to run an Access Grid node includes top-of-the-line PCs to handle display, video capture, audio, and general control of the setup, three projectors with video capture devices and cameras, and a wide range of audio gear. In addition FIU staff must be trained to operate the node, debug the multicast network, and use the Access Grid backchannel to exchange problems and solutions with Access Grid tech staff at other sites.
The new Grid node is expected to be running by mid-December.
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