GSA Technology Council

Furman University — The Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) has awarded Furman University a $1.2 million grant that will allow the university to develop new interdisciplinary programs in math and science as well as create a broad range of unique research experiences.

The HHMI announced on Tuesday that 48 of the “nation’s best undergraduate
institutions” are receiving a total of $60 million in grants to “usher in a new era of science education.” The grants ranged in size from $700,000 to $1.6 million.

“This is Furman’s first HHMI Undergraduate Science Education (USE) award, and it comes at an extremely pivotal time in our history,” said Furman chemistry professor John Wheeler, program director of the university’s HHMI initiative. “This grant will allow us to develop creative new science, math, and science education curricula, engage our younger students in expanded research experiences, and reach out to the Greenville community in novel ways that will impact a broad range of faculty, students and local teachers.”

One aspect of the new program will include a partnership with the University of Florida’s HHMI Science for Life initiative. For example, Furman will send several undergraduates each year to UF—as well as sites in France and Argentina—to engage in summer and academic year research projects with internationally recognized HHMI investigators. Twenty Furman sophomores will also participate in a weekly teleconference seminar with their peers at UF while working as HHMI Undergraduate Fellows in research labs with Furman faculty.

A second program at Furman will connect selected courses in math, physics, genetics and chemistry in a new interdisciplinary curriculum. Special integrated sections of advanced math and physics courses will be linked by the faculty teaching both subjects, as will genetics and bioorganic chemistry. Students who complete this program, designated as HHMI Undergraduate Scholars, will be among those eligible to participate in a planned quantitative science concentration to be introduced next year.

“During the last 10 years there has been an explosion in the capacity of mathematics and computer science to solve problems of great biomedical significance,” Wheeler said. “Comfort with computers and the fundamental tools of mathematics is essential to all students entering the life sciences.”

A third feature of Furman’s HHMI program is planned outreach to the greater Greenville educational community, particularly aimed at secondary math/science students and teachers. For example, the HHMI initiative will provide opportunities to engage high school students currently participating in Furman’s Bridges to a Brighter Future program with summer math and science curricular and research experiences.

Similarly, students from the South Carolina Governor’s School for Math and Science will participate in intensive summer research experiences just like Furman’s own undergraduates, and local secondary science teachers will likewise have opportunities to engage in research. A partnership has also been established with Hughes Academy, Greenville’s magnet middle school for science and technology.

Adds Wheeler, “Countless individuals and companies in Greenville County have provided critical support of the science programs at Furman for many years; the HHMI award provides one substantive and meaningful way we can give something back to the local educational community.”

HHMI’s 48 grant recipients, primarily undergraduate institutions, include traditional liberal arts colleges, historically black colleges and universities, small religious schools, and larger state institutions, all united by a commitment to teaching undergraduates.

“The undergraduate years are vital to attracting and retaining students who will be the future of science,” said HHMI President Thomas R. Cech. “We want students to experience science as the creative, challenging, and rewarding endeavor that it is.”

The 2008 grant recipients were selected through a stringent review process by distinguished scientists and educators that narrowed the 192 applicants down to 48 winners. HHMI invited 224 colleges with a track record of preparing undergraduate students for research careers to submit proposals.

HHMI is the nation’s largest private supporter of science education. It has invested more than $1.2 billion in grants to reinvigorate life science education at both research universities and liberal arts colleges and to engage the nation’s leading scientists in teaching. In 2007, it launched the Science Education Alliance, which will serve as a national resource for the development and distribution of innovative science education materials and methods.

One of the world’s largest philanthropies, HHMI is a nonprofit medical research organization that employs hundreds of leading biomedical scientists working at the forefront of their fields. HHMI has an endowment of approximately $18.7 billion. Its headquarters are located in Chevy Chase, Maryland, just outside Washington, D.C.

via Furman

Clemson University — Larry F. Hodges has been named director of the School of Computing in the College of Engineering and Science at Clemson University effective July 1. Hodges comes to Clemson from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, where he serves as professor and chairman in the department of computer science.

“Education in computing is as much about learning how to think critically about issues and how to solve problems as it is about how to create and use technology,” said Hodges. “The technology is continually changing, but the problem-solving skills learned in computing classes can serve a student throughout life.”

The School of Computing at Clemson was formed in 2007 as part of Engineering and Science Dean Esin Gulari’s mission to prepare students for all aspects of computing and as part of a university-wide emphasis on information technology and high-performance computing to allow for rapid development of emerging, interdisciplinary research and academic programs.

“Larry Hodges, in the position of director of the School of Computing, brings to Clemson a tremendous vision,” said Gulari. “The goals are to maintain a nationally competitive computer science division that is a leader in the definition and advancement of emerging academic fields in computing through the development of divisions that integrate computation with the arts, humanities, sciences and engineering.”

The School of Computing initially will focus on three divisions: computer science, computational arts and human-centered computing.

“Human-centered computing is a new area in that it is concerned with understanding both how to make computational technologies more useable and how computational technologies affect society,” said Hodges. “This new area will develop strong ties with existing programs on campus, such as industrial engineering; electrical and computer engineering; engineering and science education; CU-ICAR; and the disciplines that study human behavior, such as psychology and sociology.”

According to Hodges, computational arts will leverage the interdisciplinary Master of Fine Arts program in Digital Production Arts, which has successfully launched many Clemson graduates into animation careers.

Hodges has a record of helping build successful programs in computing and in collaborating with researchers from other disciplines and backgrounds. He was a founding member of the Graphics, Visualization and Usability (GVU) Center at Georgia Tech, where he and collaborator Barbara Rothbaum of Emory University developed virtual reality exposure therapy to help patients with anxiety disorders, such as a fear of heights, overcome their phobias.

“In computer science, it is unusual for people to write and say to you that your research has transformed their lives. The best part of this work has been the number of patients who have said virtual reality therapy changed their lives for the better,” said Hodges.

Hodges received his Ph.D. from North Carolina State University in 1988. His research in 1995 investigating the use of virtual reality in treating phobias garnered international attention. In 2006 he received the IEEE Virtual Reality Career Achievement Award for his contributions to clinical virtual reality.

In addition to his research work in clinical applications, Hodges has maintained an active research agenda in numerous other areas of virtual reality, visualization and 3D user interface design with more than 150 published papers. He has served as general chairman of both the IEEE Virtual Reality Conference and the ACM Symposium on Virtual Reality Software and Technology. He currently serves on the steering committee of the IEEE VR Conference and on the Editorial Board of IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics. 

via Clemson

Dell today announced the completion of its $155 million acquisition of MessageOne, Inc., a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) enabled enterprise-class e-mail business continuity, compliance, archiving and disaster recovery services. The acquisition is a part of the company’s strategy to use SaaS applications and remote management tools to deliver configure-to-order IT infrastructure services to commercial customers over the Internet.

With its acquisition of SilverBack Technologies, Inc., Everdream Corp., ASAP Software Express, Inc. and now MessageOne, Dell is architecting an integrated service delivery platform of SaaS applications that will enable it to remotely monitor, maintain, troubleshoot and address the majority of routine IT infrastructure issues that challenge businesses of all sizes. The company anticipates that services such as patch management, anti-virus, online backup and recovery, asset tracking, software license management and e-mail continuity delivered and managed over the Internet will reduce the cost of infrastructure management and free budget for the IT driven innovation that grows business.

“Companies currently spend 70 percent of their IT budgets maintaining their current infrastructures and dealing with routine issues,” said Steve Schuckenbrock, president, Dell Global Services. “We are building a services supply chain that integrates the world’s leading SaaS-based technologies to simplify the purchase, delivery and management of IT infrastructure services for companies and improve its price/performance.”

Dell’s MessageOne solutions include E-mail Management Services (EMS), which ensure continuity by keeping Outlook and wireless messaging systems running even when Exchange and Active Directory are down and AlertFind, which provides emergency notification and crisis communication services for businesses. MessageOne’s e-mail archiving services help companies comply with regulations, streamline electronic discovery, and maximize storage. MessageOne’s services are available today to companies with more than 1,000 seats through Dell’s sales force and will be available to medium businesses and through Dell channel partners in the future.

via Dell

Greenville, SC — AMECO, a unit of Fluor Corporation, providing integrated equipment and tool solutions to government and industry, announced today that its global workforce of more than 1,800 employees has achieved 20 million safe work hours from March 1, 2001 to March 17, 2008, with no lost-time injuries.

“AMECO employees continue to set the safety standard in our industry,” said Gary Bernardez, president of AMECO. “This 20 million-hour milestone demonstrates how committed we are to a safe work environment for our customers and our employees.”

AMECO projects have included construction support in North America, commercial sales in Latin America, fleet management in South America, military support in Iraq and construction support in the Hurricane Katrina aftermath.

“AMECO is committed to a safe and healthy work environment for its employees and for the clients it serves across the globe,” said Larry Gibbs, health, safety and environment director. “This significant milestone is impressive considering the diverse operating conditions for construction projects and plant facilities throughout the world, many times in difficult and remote operating conditions.”

AMECO has delivered fully integrated equipment and tool solutions for 60 years. The company is focused on three primary businesses: fleet outsourcing, site services, and distribution. The fleet outsourcing business assists clients in the government and industrial markets, including heavy industrial, power and manufacturing facilities, with the complete management and maintenance of fleet, tool and asset management functions.

via Fluor

Greenville, SC — AssetPoint, a provider of Maintenance Management software and industry best practices consulting, announced today that that Hard Rock Park, located in Myrtle Beach, S.C., has installed TabWare EF^X, AssetPoint’s flagship maintenance software package.  Hard Rock Park is using TabWare EF^X for maintaining all rides and park equipment as well as ride inspection records. 

David Ciciora, Manager of Ride and Construction Maintenance at Hard Rock Park said “TabWare’s ease of use and rapid implementation approach helped us get up and running quickly so that we can now effectively capture start up and testing information as we approach the park opening.  With a Sound Check opening already in progress TabWare is a valuable tool to track our work and equipment.”

“We welcome Hard Rock Park to our growing list of clients in the  Theme Parks and Attractions industry.”  stated Vince Carrozzi, EVP of AssetPoint.  “Hard Rock Park is a premier attraction for the entire country and we look forward to their success.”

via AssetPoint

Greenville, SC — Signalife, Inc. has announced that the United States Patent and Trademark Office has awarded the Company a new and important patent entitled “System For, And Method Of, Monitoring Heartbeats Of A Patient”. The patent, which covers 37 claims, will enhance the Company’s ability to develop new proprietary products.

Patent attorneys from Fulwider & Patton supervised and executed the patent application along with Chief Technology Officer Budimir S. Drakulic — the inventor of the patented technology. The new patent is owned by Signalife, Inc. In conjunction with the Patent Office’s granting of the patent, the Company will now evaluate whether or not it will file a continuation or continuation-in-part application for the purpose of pursuing additional claim coverage in the technology that may have occurred since the time of the original application.

Budimir S. Drakulic called the patent-issuance-development a “major milestone in the continued proliferation and protection of the Company’s core technologies and products.” Dr. Drakulic continued to say that issued patents together with significant patent portfolio already submitted to the United States Patent Office and two Frost & Sullivan technology awards represent major achievements for a young medical device company.

The Company currently has several additional patents pending before the United States Patent and Trademark Office covering a wide array of cardiac technologies and products. Dr. Drakulic stated that he is “confident the Company will continue to be successful in obtaining approvals for pending patents of its technologies and products.”

via Signalife

AOL today announced that it is integrating with Photobucket, Google’s Picasa Web Albums, and Webshots to give BlueString users the ability to easily access photo and video assets stored on these sites and use them to share, create and collaborate with friends on multimedia shows within the BlueString application (www.bluestring.com). In addition, an agreement with Eye-Fi will allow users to automatically upload photos from their cameras to their BlueString accounts using wireless networks.

“Collaboration that enables consumers to easily access their favorite sites using our products is a critical part of our new product strategy and crucial to delivering a great user experience,” said Kevin Conroy, Executive Vice President, AOL. “By integrating some of the best third party sites on the Web into BlueString, we are making it easy for consumers to use this application no matter where they store their digital media.”

BlueString is an all-in-one online destination that offers users a single location to preserve, access, and create with photos, videos and music for free. Over the next few weeks, separate Photobucket, Picasa Web Albums, and Webshots tabs will appear within the BlueString application, and give users immediate access to personal media stored on those sites. Users will be able to easily drag and drop photos and videos from those sites into their BlueString accounts to create multimedia shows, without uploading the files a second time.

Additionally, BlueString will work with Eye-Fi, makers of a wireless memory card for digital cameras. The Eye-Fi Card allows users to wirelessly send photos from their camera to their BlueString accounts, using their home Wi-Fi network.

“These enhancements mark a major milestone in BlueString’s development,” said David Liu, Senior Vice President, Social Media and Messaging, AOL. “Our goal with this product is to make it easy for people to access their personal media no matter where it resides on the Web or even in a camera. These collaborative efforts will enable us to fully demonstrate that ability.”

Aggregation with the Photobucket, Picasa Web Albums, and Webshots services was made possible using each company’s respective APIs to enable AOL to give users access to digital media stored on those sites within BlueString.

via AOL

Google has opened a sandbox for developers to help them build richer gadgets for iGoogle, which will offer users more powerful and interactive features. To ensure developers get the most out of their gadgets, Google has also launched an updated developer website which guides developers through building and distributing gadgets to iGoogle’s growing audience.

iGoogle’s new features will include left navigation, a maximized or “canvas view” option for gadgets, and social features for gadgets using the OpenSocial APIs. These social features for gadgets will include a friends list and activities displayed through a special updates gadget. The features and functionalities as they appear in the sandbox are meant for development purposes only, and may not reflect the end consumer experience.

Developers are an important part of Google’s innovation ecosystem and the company continues to provide tools to help them innovate in new directions that will ultimately make the web richer for all users. By building more powerful and interactive gadgets for iGoogle, developers will have an opportunity to share their gadgets with the tens of millions of iGoogle users.

via Google

Columbia, SC — Collexis Holdings, Inc., a developer of high definition search and knowledge discovery software, announced today that CABI, a not-for-profit international organization specializing in scientific publishing, research and communication, has selected the company to develop a knowledge discovery application and provide semantic search solutions by instituting a Knowledge Dashboard as a pilot implementation.

Collexis will analyze a vertical of CABI content in a cutting edge application that will provide expert profiles and trends related to agriculture and the environment—enabling the organization to expand its offering from one of pure content provisioning to discovery. The dashboard will be developed along with conceptual mapping capabilities that will broaden and expand upon the organization’s existing resources and total offering by providing a succinctly compiled site and portal for researchers and publishers to connect with one another and collaborate. The organization’s flagship product, the CABI Abstracts Database, covers the world’s literature in agriculture, the environment and related disciplines, with its detailed subject indexing and classification ensuring that this information is retrievable and in context.

“We have been looking for technology partners who go beyond standard solutions like search applications into expertise and knowledge management,” says Andrea Powell, CABI’s executive director, publishing. “The gathering and contextualizing of information in our subject areas are key success factors for our organization - and this pilot project will explore and prove how the unique Collexis Fingerprint and expert profiling technology can help CABI achieve its business objectives.”

“We are very excited to work on this project with CABI,” says Christian Herzog, Collexis executive vice president and general manager of life sciences. “By using our knowledge engine to fuel knowledge discovery applications like the Knowledge Dashboard and pre-populating the site with expert profiles generated from the Collexis technology, we’re prepared to help make CABI the knowledge hub in agriculture by providing them with this exciting professional social networking opportunity.”

via Collexis

Greenville, SC — Customer Effective, a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner and implementer of Microsoft Dynamics CRM, announced it was named top reseller of Scribe Software for 2007. Scribe Software provides configurable data migration and integration software solutions for CRM implementations in order to help employees within an organization share customer data for more effective critical business processes and decisions. Customer Effective was recognized for generating more revenue than any other Scribe partner in 2007 for Microsoft Dynamics CRM implementations.

As a reseller of Scribe Software, Customer Effective offers products that support all business deployment options with Microsoft Dynamics CRM, on-premise, hosted and CRM Online. The Scribe software suite utilizes a unique and open template model that enables organizations such as Customer Effective to quickly and efficiently build integrations that can then be designed to meet the specific needs of each of their customers; all without having to write a single line of code. Scribe Insight has set the standard for the customer data migration and integration within a company’s CRM environment.

“Customer Effective played an integral role in the distribution of our integration tool, Scribe Insight, for many Microsoft Dynamics CRM customers,” said Lou Antonucci, director of sales for Scribe Software. “Their expertise in streamlining Microsoft Dynamics CRM implementations and managing data migration projects sets them apart from many integrated solutions providers. Our partnership with Customer Effective offers a win-win for businesses looking for rapid deployment, user adoption and timely return on investment from their CRM system.”

via Customer Effective 

“Scribe’s data integration software suite is key component of many of CRM implementations involving multiple data warehouses and content formats,” Scott Millwood, CEO of Customer Effective. “For many clients, data is disjointed across different departments. Even small and medium-sized businesses struggle with data management across multiple systems. The beauty of Microsoft Dynamics CRM is the ability to infuse existing data, organize it into logical retrieval categories and leverage it to have more meaningful customer interactions. Scribe’s software suite is a natural addition to make CRM implementation more efficient.”