UNIVERSITY OF UTAH, THE

This RII Inter-Campus and Intra-Campus Cyber Connectivity (RII C2) award would leverage the facilities and statewide reach of the UEN to expand the capabilities of the of the research and education communities to more effectively engage faculty and students across Utah in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields. The proposers seek to extend network capabilities (initially provisioned at an aggregate bandwidth of 30 Gbps) of the Research@UEN optical network to BYU to complement capabilities under development for Utah State University (USU) and UU. Research@UEN?s Phase-1 development includes the Salt Lake City metropolitan optical network and a fiber-based spur to Logan in support of UU and USU, respectively. The RII C2 project proposes southward extension to Provo for BYU that can enhance the level of collaboration and computational engagement among the three institutions, and greatly expand their capabilities to collaborate with researchers nationally and internationally through high-speed access to the national R&E networks, Internet2, and National LambdaRail (NLR). Intellectual Merit :The research and education initiatives of this RII C2 project will enable collaboration among academic researchers and with peers at national laboratories, establish experimental networks, and lead to next generation network development efforts. Connecting to Research@UEN will strengthen the ability of the research institutions to recruit and retain new faculty leaders. The wider deployment of optical networking connections is critical to ability to collaborate aggressively and to share large volumes of data with colleagues across the country and the globe. With similar optical networks now either in operation or under development in most other states, Research@UEN is essential to the three Utah research universities? ongoing research competitiveness and collaborative capabilities. Broader Impacts: This project seeks to launch a multi-institutional effort that will enable research on issues of importance to Utah while strengthening STEM training of its youth. Research@UEN and the campus network upgrades will contribute to economic development in Utah through the training of CI-and networking-fluent students and staff and facilitating of faculty research collaborations with local companies. The ultimate goal is to establish a comprehensive optical networking infrastructure for all institutions of higher education in Utah.

Clarification of Codes