The National Science Foundation (NSF) has awarded the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education (OSRHE) and OneNet a $1,179,147 Campus Cyberinfrastructure (CC*) grant to connect additional campuses to the OneOklahoma Friction Free Network (OFFN). This marks the fourth award to OSRHE and OneNet to expand the OFFN network.
Administered by NSF’s Office of Advanced Cyberinfrastructure, the CC* grant program invests in campus-level cyberinfrastructure improvements for science applications and research projects. Previous NSF awards have connected a total of 21 Oklahoma research and regional public and private colleges and universities to OFFN.
Under the terms of this two-year grant cycle, Mid-America Christian University (MACU), Northwestern Oklahoma State University (NWOSU), Oklahoma State University Biomedical Imaging Center (OSU-BIC), Rose State College (RSC) and Western Oklahoma State College (WOSC) will become the next group of campuses enabled to harness the expanded capabilities of the OFFN network connection.
“The OFFN connection strengthens collaboration and provides new research and education experiences for faculty and students throughout the state,” said Chancellor Allison D. Garrett.
OFFN is a 10 and 100 Gbps research network that provides higher education institutions with a dedicated route to internet and research networks that is much faster than traditional internet highways. This alternate pathway allows researchers to transmit data at higher speeds.
This CC* project will support a wide range of scientific disciplines at the five newly connected sites, including cybersecurity, natural science, biomedical imaging, nursing, and other STEM-related teaching. The grant award also will fund an optical fiber build to OSU-BIC and a service upgrade to NWOSU with 10 Gbps connections to OneNet and the OFFN network. MACU and WOSC’s connectivity will also increase to 10 Gbps.
The award will be managed by OneNet, the state system of higher education’s comprehensive digital communications entity. Brian Burkhart, OneNet’s chief technology officer, will serve as principal investigator. Dr. Steven Maier of NWOSU will lead research and education application adoption, and Johnny Corona of RSC will lead campus technology deployment. Sky Pettett of OneNet will manage network technology implementation and training, and April Goode of OneNet will provide planning, communications and coordination services for grant implementation.”As Oklahoma’s research and education network, OneNet has leveraged NSF CC* funding to expand and enhance research computing at our state’s colleges and universities,” said Burkhart. “This project builds on the success of previous projects and extends OFFN’s high-speed connections and data transfer capabilities to our state’s smaller institutions. These investments foster science, innovation and new discoveries, enhancing economic growth for Oklahoma.”