GSA Technology Council

Clemson University and the South Carolina Research Authority (SCRA) are scheduled to begin construction in mid-March on the approximately 43,000 square-foot innovation center complex in Anderson County to support the state’s growing advanced materials industry. Harper Corporation of Greenville is the design/build contractor on the project, with Goodwyn Mills and Cawood, Inc., serving as architect of record.

Clemson’s innovation center will occupy approximately 25,000 square feet and be dedicated to supporting tenants interested in growing start-up companies or “landing parties” associated with Clemson research, especially in advanced materials. SCRA will house secure research in approximately 18,000 square feet, with the remaining square footage devoted to a common area and collaboration space.

The facility will be adjacent to the Clemson University Advanced Materials Research Laboratory, where Clemson offers some of the nation’s top research facilities in optical materials/photonics and electron microscopy and houses cutting-edge research programs.

Chris Przirembel, Clemson’s vice president for research and economic development, said the facility will complete the ‘innovation chain’ that links academic research to the marketplace — and jobs.

“The knowledge generated by faculty and students is not intended to remain within the confines of the university,” Przirembel said. “Providing office and laboratory space for fledgling companies that want to start businesses and create jobs based on university discoveries is an exciting prospect. We look forward to creating an environment that nurtures new business for South Carolina, particularly in advanced materials where we know there is great opportunity for growth.”

Przirembel noted that Innovate Anderson, a public-private economic development organization formed by Anderson County, the City of Anderson, Anderson Area Chamber of Commerce and private businesses, is a critical partner in the development of the Advanced Materials Center, having purchased the remaining undeveloped property in the research campus to attract private development to Anderson County.

Bill Mahoney, SCRA’s chief executive officer, said the facility is specially designed for commercialization of advanced materials by start-up companies with intellectual property primarily coming out of Clemson University.

“This is one of three world-class facilities that SCRA is providing with its university partners in South Carolina to grow the knowledge economy,” said Mahoney. “With these centers, SCRA is fulfilling legislative mandates identified in the Innovation Centers Act focused on commercialization of new knowledge-based discoveries, using SCRA company-retained earnings instead of state taxpayer money.”

The innovation center complex was funded through a public-private partnership that includes Advance SC, the Duke Energy Foundation, federal agencies and South Carolina Research Infrastructure Act funds, in addition to Clemson and SCRA. Construction is expected to be complete by early 2011.

via: Clemson University

Network Controls and Electric – a leading supplier of cabling and electrical infrastructure — was recently awarded the contract to provide electrical products and service for the renovation at Anderson County’s Palmetto Elementary School.

Network Controls and Electric employees will start work on the project in 4th Quarter of 2009. The entire project is scheduled for completion in August, 2010. “We appreciate the opportunity to bring upgrades to the school system and providing a valued partnership with the school districts. This project comes as we are completing our work for Palmetto Middle School and look forward to continued school projects in Anderson County,” said Brad Cunningham, CEO, Network Control and Electric. The company was recently awarded the project during a school board meeting, during which time several other subcontractors were named for site work, plumbing and HVAC.

The work is part of Anderson District #1’s $85.7 million renovation that calls for additions to nine schools. Palmetto Elementary School was originally built in 1981. Since that time, the school has undergone several additions.

via: Network Controls

The Better Business Bureau Upstate South Carolina will hold its fall ‘Secure Your ID’ Shred Day from 10 am until 2 pm on Saturday, October 17, offering complimentary commercial shredding services to individuals and small business owners at locations in Greenville and Anderson. For the first time, the Greenville location also will accept used home computer equipment to give area residents a safe, convenient way to dispose of old computers. Any brand computer, monitor or printer in any condition will be accepted by Goodwill, and will be recycled as part of the organization’s Reconnect program.

In Greenville, Shred Day will be held in the Better Business Bureau parking lot on Church Street behind the BI-LO Center. The Anderson location is Anderson Mall on Clemson Boulevard.
Individuals are asked to limit boxes to five per person or 10 per vehicle. Businesses are asked to limit boxes to 10 total, and that box sizes be approximately 10 x 12 x 15 inches.

The BBB’s Secure Your ID Shred Day program was established to help raise awareness about Identity Theft and to stress the importance of shredding personal and confidential information to prevent it. BBB Upstate holds a Shred Day each spring and fall, collecting thousands of pounds of documents each time, according to BBB President Kathy Barrett. Consumers attending BBB Shred Day also receive free information on preventing Identity Theft, and have the opportunity to win a home shredder. A free Black and Decker home shredder will be awarded at each location to the individual who brings the oldest document to the Oct. 17 Shred Day.

via: Better Business Bureau of Upstate South Carolina

Network Controls and Electric a leading supplier of structured cabling and electrical infrastructure recently relocated the data center for Anderson University, relocating the university’s data center and rapidly restoring data access

“The project basically included the entire relocation of the entire IT facility to a new location and with the help of Network Controls and Electric we were able to complete the actual move in three days,” said Peter Harvin, Chief Information Officer for Anderson University.
The project encompassed relocation of the fiber optic backbone, multiple fiber splices and terminations in addition to new cabinets and racks as part of the build-out for a new data center in the University’s library that further expanded the server and network space for the school. The University undertook the renovation in the summer of 2009 to accommodate expansion of the University’s programs.
“Network Controls had excellent planning up front. And when you are taking the entire computer facility down for the university it is extremely important to plan, especially for the unexpected,” Harvin said.

Network Controls, which has been a resource to Anderson University for several years, has also completed data center installations and relocations for hospital systems, manufacturing facilities and other universities. “At Network Controls we are a key resource as institutions enhance their data systems as they expand or move facilities. We manage multiple dimensions of the technical relocation and meet their needs for speedy installations,” said Brad Cunningham, President and CEO of Network Controls and Electric.

via: Network Controls

The SouthEast Linuxfest is occurring on June 13th at Clemson University. It begins at 9am, and runs till around 6pm, followed by an after party. The list of speakers includes:

• Chris Dibona – Slashdot co-founder, Current Open Source Czar at Google
• Mark Spencer – Original Developer of Gaim (pidgin) and Asterisk, currently CTO of Digium
• Russell Bryant – Asterisk stable package maintainer.
• Wendy Seltzer – Former EFF staff attorney, Board member, the Tor
• project, Founder, chillingeffects.org
• Joe ‘Zonker’ Brockmeier – Novell – openSUSE community manager.
• Greg DeKoenigsberg – RedHat – community architect, OLPC evangelist, board member, SugarLabs.org, former Fedora project leader.
• Ian Geiser – KDE project
• Pete Graner – Canonical – Ubuntu kernel team
• Ryan ‘Icculus’ Gordon – The ENTIRE Linux gaming industry
• Brian Leonard – Sun Microsystems – OpenSolaris
• Robby Workman – Slackware
• Alan Hicks – Slackware
• Richard Weait – OpenStreetMap
• Michelle & Michael Hall – Qimo
• Paul Frields – Fedora Project Leader
• Clint Savage – Fedora Project Contributor
• Keith Bergelt – CEO – Open Invention Network
• Semmy Purewal – Founder Free IT Athens – Assoc. Prof – College of Charleston
• D. Richard Hipp – SQLite
• Chad Wollenburg – Linux Basement

Yes, you no longer need to travel to Ohio for OLF, or LA for SCaLE to get good quality Free/Libre Open Source Software education and entertainment, as it’s now being brought back to the southeast. Moreover unlike some other conferences, you can get into this one for free. We also have a great exhibit hall with a nice mix of community projects and open source companies. So, you ask, how can I find out more, and register for SELF? Easy, just go to: http://southeastlinuxfest.org If you are on the east coast, particularly southern or central, or if you just want to witness the return of Linux in the GNU/South, don’t miss the SouthEast LinuxFest, it is truly going to be a blast. The SouthEast LinuxFest is a community event for anyone who wants to learn more about Linux and Free & Open Source software. It is part educational conference, and part social gathering. Like Linux itself, it is shared with attendees of all skill levels to communicate tips, ideas, and to benefit all who use Linux/Free and Open Source Software. LinuxFest is the place to learn, to make new friends, to network with new business partners, and most importantly, to have fun! Register at http://southeastlinuxfest.org/register

PTG, a Microsoft Certified Partner and VMware Enterprise Partner was recently tapped by Think Up Consulting to provide IT support services and solutions. Experiencing a rapid burst of company growth, Think Up Consulting turned to PTG to address their IT infrastructure and overall service challenge needs.

By first performing a needs assessment, PTG was able to determine where the greatest needs existed in order to formulate a structured support plan that included a financial return model for their IT services. Immediately, PTG developed a seamless connection through Think Up’s VPN server to SharePoint and Microsoft Exchange server to give Think Up’s employees reliable and efficient data sharing capabilities. PTG currently delivers proactive IT services, desktop support and IT purchasing duties for more than 25 in-house and remote home office employees. As a result, Think Up is able to focus on their business rather than spending time reacting to unwanted IT technical problems. The full story is available on the PTG website.

“We knew we needed better IT infrastructure support, but we were not exactly sure what we needed,” says Jamie Pagel, Chief of Ideation for Think Up Consulting. “PTG came in, assessed our situation and made recommendations that hit the mark perfectly. It’s obvious from working with them that they are very customer focused and experts at problem solving. Their service level is first rate with professional response to everything we need. With PTG, we feel like we have a real partnership.”

via: PTG

AT&T has announced plans for continued expansion of the companies 3G Network throughout South Carolina.  The plans include include expansion in of existing 3G network in Columbia, Charleston, Greenville, and Spartenburg and the launch of 3G in Florence and Anderson.  All together, the cmpletion of the plan should end up with 195 active cell sites across the state.

A list of counties that will benefit from the 2009 activation include:

– Greenville County
– Spartanburg County
– Anderson County
– York County
– Pickens County
– Lancaster County
– Laurens County
– Richland County
– Lexington County
– Sumter County
– Florence County
– Horry County
– Charleston County
– Berkeley County
– Dorchester County

Via AT&T

Acumen I.T., a Greenville-based technology firm, announced today they will be presenting “The Next Generation of Server Virtualization and Storage”, along with Dell, in Anderson, South Carolina at the Hilton Garden Inn on September 30, 2008 from 3pm -6:30pm.

The event, targeting top executives will focus on solutions from two key technology leaders; Dell EqualLogic, the leader in storage utilization and VMware, the leader in server virtualization. Server virtualization consolidates IT operations on fewer resources, increasing the utilization of your server and storage infrastructure. Virtualized storage gives time back to administrators to design, develop and implement robust disaster recovery solutions for the enterprise. By consolidating servers and storage, customers are dramatically reducing purchasing, management and maintenance costs, often getting a ROI in a few months from deployment.

Using these technologies, businesses can reduce the number of physical servers in their environment from 30 to 40 servers down to as few as 3-5. They also consolidate islands of storage that increases storage utilization by 100 to 200%.

Acumen I.T. Vice President of Sales, Bradley Wright stated, “This presentation will show you how to eliminate server downtime, how to manage disaster recovery and how to use existing resources to your fullest advantage.”

via: Acumen IT

Clemson University is the 22nd best national public university in the country, according to the annual ranking by U.S.News & World Report. In a new category Clemson also received recognition as a school to watch.

Clemson is No. 2 among national public universities in the “up and coming” category as “a college that has recently made striking improvements or innovations — a school everyone should be watching,” according to the magazine.

The No. 22 ranking is the university’s highest ranking to date. Last year, Clemson was No. 27 among the 164 public, doctoral-granting institutions in the country. The climb in the rank is attributed to improvement in a number of areas at Clemson: the graduation rate has gone up from 75 percent to 78 percent; the freshman retention rate is up from 88 percent to 90 percent; and alumni giving increased from 27 percent to 28 percent. The university has more classes with fewer than 20 students and more freshmen — 52 percent — in the top 10 percent of their high school graduating classes.

A message from Clemson University President James Barker:

Complete rankings are published in U.S.News & World Report’s America’s Best Colleges 2009.

PinPoint GeoTech has announced that SCLaunch! will be making an investment in their company. Pinpoint has developed a mobile system for coordinating the work efforts of combined municipal agencies. Since sanitation workers are driving through neighborhoods already, why not have them tag other problems, automatically creating a work order so that the appropriate organization can address the problem? This means that as a truck drives through a neighborhood, a driver can see that a traffic light is out, press a few buttons on his GPS enabled gadget and let the city services dispatch send a crew to repair it. While that crew is out, the could spot debris while traveling on their route, press a few buttons, and sanitation can integrate that pickup into their work flow. It’s a bit like integrating Getting Things Done in city services. Every group has the opportunity to know what needs to be done when they are ready to work on it.

Pinpoint GeoTech was a 2007 Innovision Award Winner, and the company presented as an entrepreneur at Innoventure in 2008. In his Innoventure presentation, President Jim Oswald said that cities are reporting a 45% fuel savings in curbside debris pickup operations when the system is deployed. With diesel fuel prices well over $4 a gallon, there is a lot of natural interest in Pinpint GeoTech’s system.

via: Pinpoint Public Works