Minority-Serving Institutions (MSI) Cyberinfrastructure (CI) Institute [MSI-CI2]and CI Empowerment Coalition MSI-CIEC

October 21 2006

Geoffrey Fox gcf@indiana.eduhttp://www.educationgrid.org

The Demographic RevolutionProviding a scalable equitable

mechanism for developing a CI-enabled science and engineering workforce

Basic Ideas• Cyberinfrastructure is critical to all involved in

Research and Education• Cyberinfrastructure is intrinsically democratic

supporting broad participation• MSI’s should lead MSI integration with

Cyberinfrastructure• One should guide the projects with experts• One should aim at scalable (systemic) approaches• Goal is peer collaborations involving all institutions of

higher education

Some Key Institutions/ Participants• Al Kuslikis: Director of STEM project development at the American

Indian Higher Education Consortium AIHEC• Alex Ramírez: Director of information technology initiatives at the

Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities HACU• Selena Singleton: Chief of programs at the National Association for

Equity in Higher Education NAFEO– Karl Barnes and Calvin Lowe also help a lot from NAFEO

• Richard Aló: Director of the Center for Computational Science (CCSDS) at UHD University of Houston Downtown; PI MSI-CIEC Proposal

• Diane Baxter: Director of outreach and education at the San Diego Supercomputing Center SDSC

• Geoffrey Fox: Director of the Community Grids Lab at Indiana University, Visiting Scholar for CI Development at the Alliance for Equity In Higher Education, and Senior Research Associate at CCSDS UHD.

Example: Setting up a Polar CI-Grid• The North and South poles are melting with potential huge

environmental impact• As a result of MSI-CI2 meetings, I am working with MSI ECSU

in North Carolina and Kansas University to design and set up a Polar Grid (Cyberinfrastructure)

• This is a network of computers, sensors (on robots and satellites), data and people aimed at understanding science of ice-sheets and impact of global warming

• We have changed the 100,000 year Glacier cycle into a ~50 year cycle; the field has increased dramatically in importance and interest

• Good area to get involved in as not so much established work

• ECSu

MSI Cyberinfrastructure Empowerment Coalition MSI-CIEC

• MSI institution centered with coordinated brokering and support• MSI capabilities are built around CI delivery to MSI’s • Program support capabilities such as portal help enable MSI

Capabilities (Portal not funded)• There are important administrative and outreach capabilities

under “Internal and Operational”• Initial major focus on integrating CI at an MSI with linkage of

multiple programs at a given institution– Modest CI installation at site: local capability and access to International

CI (MSI CI Operations Center)– Institutional activities: executive presentations and campus visits to plan

CI – Funding of faculty release time and students– Linkage of MSI and National CI research projects– Curriculum enhancement– Education and Training of faculty, students and CI support staff

• MSI-CIEC can lead or support/advise projects such as advising TeraGrid RAT on Campus partnerships

MSI-CIEC: MSI Cyberinfrastructure Empowerment

Coalition

MSI-Centered Capabilities Links to 3 MSI areas and the Alliance CI Linkage Capabilities for specific domains such as Biology for Earth Science MSI faculty staff student mentoring and advancement MSI Institutional evaluation, planning, development MSI Physical resources such as clusters and TeraGrid access

Program Support Capabilities Portal, Access Grid, Collaboration tools, Portal content (Support databases) MSI CI Operations Center Research programs and opportunities REU, Fellowships etc. supporting other capabilities including MSI faculty staff student mentoring and advancement Education and Training Specific Programs and Identification of opportunities Social and Behavioral research

Operational and Internal Capabilities• External Relations• Government, Other MSI Projects, Relevant connections such as TeraGrid, NCSA, SDSC, TACC, SCxx• Outreach and Meetings• Evaluation and Internal Research• Administration & Operations

MSI-CIEC: MSI Cyberinfrastructure Empowerment Coalition Projects with Multiple PI's:

These use a selection of capabilities and include cases where MSI-CIEC has a lead or support role

MSI-CI2 is first MSI-CIEC project

MSI-CIEC: MSI Cyberinfrastructure Empowerment Coalition Leadership team

Capability Leaders PIs of Projects