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Tech Gets $2.55 Million Networking
Contract to Make Internet Accessible, Train Researchers
The National Science Foundation has awarded Virginia Tech
a $2.55 million contract for an education and research program
aimed at making the Internet more accessible and developing Ph.D.s
who have the needed multidisciplinary background to meet the
challenges in advanced networking.
The Integrated Research and Education in Advanced Networking
(IREAN) program, directed by Scott
Midkiff, is conducting multidisciplinary research on advanced
networking topics, including broadband wireless access, mobile
access to Internet resources, Internet appliances, network security,
quality of service, and management of large-scale networks.
"These topics represent key barriers to making the Internet
the common, ubiquitous, and global communications infrastructure
of the future," Midkiff said.
Up to 20 students will participate in the program, with five
or six Ph.D. graduates expected per year. About one-third of
the IREAN fellows will conduct research and take courses at the
Alexandria Research Institute, Midkiff said. In addition to research,
the IREAN fellows will work on distributed, interdisciplinary
teams.
"Experience and knowledge in critical areas is not enough,"
he said. "Researchers must be able to work in multidisciplinary
teams that are often geographically distributed and culturally
diverse. They must be able to consider global, economic, and
regulatory factors in their research, and communicate effectively
in a variety of settings," he continued. "The program
should create the environment in which our students can gain
these perspectives and skills," he said.
Each student will also be encouraged to complete at least one
internship with an industry or government partner.
Other department faculty members involved in the program are
Charles
Bostian, Luiz
DaSilva, Nat
Davis, and Bill
Tranter. Faculty members from computer science, industrial
and systems engineering, finance, economics, and marketing are
also involved.
For more information, please see: http://www.irean.vt.edu/.
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