September 6, 2005

I-Light 2005 explores high-speed networking research

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Experts from Purdue University will join others from around the region this month to explore ways to better utilize I-Light, the fiberoptic network that connects Purdue to Indiana University and Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis.

The I-Light 2005 Symposium, held this year at IUPUI on Sept 21-22, includes presentations, demonstrations and poster sessions by researchers and information technologists from the three campuses highlighting advances in high-performance networking, computing and visualization.

"This is an opportunity to explore possibilities for collaboration, research and scholarship," said James Bottum, vice president for Information Technology at Purdue.

Topics at the symposium include visualization in the sciences, such as medicine and engineering, visual tele-collaboration and the use of virtual reality in education and the arts and humanities. Featured speakers include Carolina Cruz-Neira from the Virtual Reality Applications Center at Iowa State University, Jason Leigh from the Electronic Visualization Lab at the University of Illinois at Chicago, and Greg Jones from the Scientific Computing and Imaging Institute at the University of Utah. A full schedule and registration information are available online.

"Use of this technology is headed in new, exciting directions," said symposium co-chair Gary Bertoline, who is director of the Envision Center for Data Perceptualization at Purdue. "The innovative proposals for posters and presentations we received this year will affect the direction of research in this field for years to come."

One such presentation will focus on remote sensing that allows researchers to receive satellite data in real time. The technology monitored Hurricane Katrina and shared the images with researchers and the public via I-Light and the Purdue web site.

I-Light can move the entire written contents of the Purdue and IU university libraries from one campus to another in seconds, a capability that facilitates life science research conducted jointly by professors at the two universities.

Indiana is believed to be the first state to deploy such a high-performance data

network, a capability that has benefits beyond campus. Last year, the network was used by the Purdue Homeland Security Institute to provide local, state and federal officials with the computing power to run a virtual exercise in responding to a domestic terrorist attack.

Writer: Jim Schenke, (765) 494-6262, jschenke@purdue.edu

Sources: James Bottum, (765) 496-2266, jb@purdue.edu

Gary Bertoline, (765) 494-0541, bertoline@purdue.edu

Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; purduenews@purdue.edu

Note to Journalists: The welcome and plenary session of the I-Light 2005 Symposium begins at 9 a.m. on Sept. 21. Complete schedule information for the two-day symposium can be viewed online. For more information, contact program co-chair Gary Bertoline at (765) 494-0541, bertoline@purdue.edu.

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