DOE Small Business Conference: Jefferson Lab procurement staff members Danny Lloyd and Dennis Dobbins represented the Lab at the 4th Annual Department of Energy Small Business Conference in Albuquerque, New Mexico earlier this month. The conference focused on the DOE's efforts to increase opportunities for small businesses and to expand outreach efforts in the small business community. Participants included DOE representatives, prime contractors, national labs, and nine other federal agencies, which provided valuable information about business lines and upcoming contracting opportunities at DOE and at the other agencies. Thousands of attendees including small business contractors and program officials appreciated the information provided at the Jefferson Lab booth. DOE Contracting Officer James W. Skinner commended Lloyd and Dobbins for their strong personal commitment and connections with the small business community and the Lab's successful small business program in support of the Department's goals.
SURA/JLab Thesis Prize: The Jefferson Lab Users Group has selected Xiaochao Zheng as the awardee for this year's SURA/JLab Thesis Prize. Zheng, nominated by her MIT thesis supervisor, William Bertozzi, will present her thesis, Precision Measurement of Neutron Spin Asymmetry An1 at Large cBj Using CEBAF at 5.7 GeV, at the annual Users meeting, June 10-13. Congratulations to Zheng, who credits in large part her successful defense of her thesis to the support and guidance of the JLab researchers and access to the premier facility at which she conducted her Ph.D. experiment.
Information Technology
AT&T partnership/networking infrastructure: AT&T President of Sales, Chris Rooney, addressed the SURA Board of Trustees on April 29, 2003. Mr. Rooney provided an overview of a cooperative agreement between SURA and AT&T that would provide SURA with no-cost leases of dark fiber and donated equipment to support SURA's participation in the development of a new generation of regional and national advanced optical networks. SURA continues to work closely Geographic Network Affiliates International (Geo) to finalize this cooperative agreement. SURA contact: Gary Crane.
IT Committee Meeting: The SURA IT Committee met in conjunction with the SURA Board meeting on April 29. Highlights of the meeting included additional detail, provided by AT&T Government Solutions VP Engineering, Bob Collet, on the proposed cooperative agreement between SURA and AT&T. The IT Steering Group and representatives from the SURA schools participating in the National Lambda Rail (NLR) have recommended that a small technical evaluation team be formed to examine the technical and financial feasibility of utilizing assets from the AT&T agreement to develop an optical network service for the SURA region. In addition to providing a service to the SURA region, such a network service would significantly enhance the reach of the NLR initiative. SURA contact: Gary Crane.
SGA eCorridors: The Advisory Committee for the Southern eCorridors Project is developing an overview describing the project and its potential impact on the economic well-being of the southern United States. Director of IT Initiatives Gary Crane is SURA's representative on the Committee which includes appointees from each of the Southern Governors' Association states. SURA contact: Gary Crane.
NSF Middleware Initiative: NMI Integration Testbed participants have completed their evaluation of NMI Release 2 and have reported the results to the relevant NMI component developers. Fifty-nine reports were received covering all 25 components. Testbed sites include the University of Alabama at Birmingham, University of Alabama in Huntsville, Georgia State, University of Florida, Florida State, University of Michigan, University of Texas at Austin, and University of Virginia. Participants are currently evaluating NMI Release 3. SURA contact: Mary Fran Yafchak.
NMI Workshops: Drawing on the experience and knowledge being gained in the NMI Integration Testbed Program, plans are underway for the Deploying an Enterprise Directory and Directory-Enabled Applications workshop in August 2003, under SURA's PACS grant with the University of Kentucky. The audience will be early adopters from the Consortium of Independent Colleges and the EDUCAUSE AN-MSI project. SURA is considering other workshops to disseminate results and support extended deployment, including: a workshop in conjunction with the EDUCAUSE annual conference, a middleware deployment panel at the SuperComputing 2003 conference, and an NMI integration tutorial or presentation at GlobusWorld. SURA contact: Mary Fran Yafchak.
Coastal Research
SCOOP: The Office of Naval Research has awarded a $947K grant to SURA for Year 1 of the SURA Coastal Ocean Observing Program (SCOOP). With this first phase funding, SURA will begin to create a prototype modeling grid which will link together circulation, wave, sediment transport and water quality grid models. Five sites are anticipated as participants in this initial step to launch a comprehensive, integrated and multi-institutional program.
Tech Transfer and Commercialization and Other SURA Projects
Optical Fiber Sensor Workshop: The Innovative Optical Fiber Sensor Workshop was held May 20-21 at Christopher Newport University in Newport News, VA. Co-sponsored by SURA and NASA Langley, fifty researchers from around the world convened to discuss the opportunities available at NASA's Optical Fiber Draw Tower. Many of the top researchers in this field made presentations about the current state of the art. Along with hosts Christopher Newport and Old Dominion, SURA universities included Virginia Tech, Hampton University, William & Mary, and Norfolk State. Jonathan Knight, University of Bath, England, presented on photonic band gap fibers and the recent developments taking place in his research lab. Bob Windeler, OFS Laboratories, presented on microstructure fibers and tunable devices. The workshop concluded with open discussion about the use of the NASA Langley Fiber Optic Draw Tower and its unique capabilities. The formation of a working group was discussed, along with ways in which the group could best make use of the draw tower capabilities. For more information, contact Martin Buoncristiani.
COVITS: The upcoming Commonwealth of Virginia's Information Technology Symposium (COVITS) is a world-class conference focused on the convergence of business, government, and academia leadership to identify, discuss, and propose solutions to critical technology issues. SURA is participating as a Bronze Sponsor and SURA Director of Business Development Matt Thomas is a member of the COVITS Advisory Committee. The conference will be held in Roanoke, Virginia, September 21-23, 2003. Featured speakers include: Former British Prime Minister John Major, Ret. US Army General Norman Schwarzkopf, Virginia Tech President Charles Steger, and US Department of Commerce Undersecretary for Technology Phillip Bond. SURA contact: Matt Thomas.
Executive, Management, Administrative
SURA Board: SURA welcomes to the Board of Trustees new member, James Blair, Interim Vice Provost for Research, who has been appointed by President Charles Steger as Virginia Tech's institutional representative. Blair will be a member of the SURA Development Committee.
Board of Trustees meeting: The Board of Trustees convened for its Spring 2003 meeting on April 29 & 30, 2003, at the Wyndham Washington, DC. Presentations were made by each of SURA's program directors including status and assessments of SURA's Jefferson Lab, SCOOP, and information technology activities. Guest speakers included: AT&T President of Sales Chris Rooney on the pending SURA-AT&T cooperative agreement; Director of International Affairs, American Physical Society (APS) Irving Lerch on Scientific Exchange and National Security, and representatives from the APS and American Institute of Physics (AIP) on Approaches to a Consortium Agreement for APS/AIP Journals. SURA contact: Elizabeth Lawson.
Extended Programmatic Standing Committees: The SURA Council of Presidents has appointed representatives to SURA's extended programmatic standing committees for Jefferson Lab, Coastal Research, Development, and Information Technology. Many of these representatives participated with the Board in committee deliberations at the Spring Board meeting. The extension of these committees provides a venue for focused participation from SURA member universities to more effectively contribute to and strengthen the scientific and technical capabilities of the region and to ultimately enhance the research capacity of the South through collaborative initiatives and partnerships. SURA contact: Elizabeth Lawson.
Nominating Committee: The SURA Executive Committee appointed David Ernst, Vanderbilt University, to chair the 2003 nominating committee to name candidates for the vice-chair election and to propose a slate of committee chairs for Board election at its Fall 2003 meeting. SURA contact: Elizabeth Lawson.
Fall Board meeting: LSU Chancellor Mark Emmert, Council Chair, will host the Board at Louisiana State University for its Fall meeting on November 11&12, 2003. SURA contact: Elizabeth Lawson.
