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Foundation Hosts Forum at Norfolk, Va., University to Discuss Research Grants

Posted on: Wednesday, 5 January 2005, 21:00 CST

Jan. 6--NORFOLK, Va. -- National Science Foundation Day at Norfolk State University was all about different connections -- the kind that bring about research grants, provide wireless Internet service to NSU residence halls and allow other historically black institutions to piggyback capabilities.

Officials from the foundation in Arlington and 20 colleges and universities convened Wednesday at NSU to learn more about opportunities to receive foundation grants to fund research, education and training, and research facilities.

The organization holds similar events at about eight universities each year, said George Wilson, who coordinates NSF Day events. The foundation granted more than 10,000 competitive awards in 2004, with an average award of $145,783.

"Our goal is to encourage as many people as possible to send us proposals," Wilson said. "We let them know what priorities we have, what types of things we're interested in and familiarize people with how the agency works."

During the conference's luncheon, NSU President Marie V. McDemmond touted the newly formed Cooperative for Minority Serving Institutions in Technology, a consortium designed to allow colleges and universities in the Northeast to take advantage of extra bandwidth capabilities streaming from NSU's supernode, the center of the university's planned RISE Center.

Upon completion, RISE, which stands for Research and Innovations to Support Empowerment, will consist of a communications research center and corporate park. The supernode already generates fiber optic communication speeds of up to 10 gigabits per second.

Through its partnership with the Virginia division of Pennsylvania telecommunications company TelCove Inc., which provides the fiber optic network for the supernode and the RISE Center site, NSU can share its abundant bandwidth with other universities near TelCove's fiber infrastructure.

"If an institution does not have access to broadband technology, they are going to be handicapped in the future," McDemmond said. "We see this as the future growth of our minority serving institutions.

"It's an opportunity to help tap the latent job potential of people who have not always worked in the technology field and a chance to help America maintain its competitive edge."

There will be no membership fees for joining the consortium, but the universities will have to pay for infrastructure necessary to connect to Tel Cove's fiber optic network.

"It would be a lot cheaper than trying to do it themselves," said Adebisi Oladipupo, vice president for research and technology. "The idea is to pool resources to achieve the same goals."

Construction on NSU's $28 million RISE Center, which is being funded through a state bond, is slated to begin this year and will be managed by an NSU alumnus-owned company chosen in November. The university still needs another $6 million to totally fund the project and will ask state lawmakers for help this session.

The supernode at the RISE site already is supplying wireless Internet service to all of NSU's residence halls, Oladipupo said. With the university serving as its own Internet service provider, users can tap into the wireless Web on 85 percent of the open spaces on campus.

NSU officials believe the supernode and the pending RISE Center can lead to tremendous economic development and growth in Hampton Roads and are eager to share that potential with other organizations across the nation.

"As universities, we have an obligation to be economic engines and spur job growth, and attract business development," McDemmond said. "It's a very ambitious program. But there's no reason why minority-serving institutions can't do it. We have the brain trust.

"Now we have to have the technology trust and the partnerships to do it."

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(c) 2005, The Virginian-Pilot, Norfolk, Va. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News. For information on republishing this content, contact us at (800) 661-2511 (U.S.), (213) 237-4914 (worldwide), fax (213) 237-6515, or e-mail reprints@krtinfo.com.

Source: The Virginian-Pilot

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