Last modified: Wednesday, September 21, 2005
Indiana University and Purdue University to establish mutual wireless connectivity
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Sept. 21, 2005
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Indiana University visitors to Purdue University campuses and Purdue visitors to IU campuses will soon be able to make seamless wireless network connections using their wireless laptops or personal digital assistants as if they were on one of their own campuses.
IU Vice President for Research and Information Technology Michael McRobbie and Purdue Vice President for Information Technology James Bottum made the announcement at the 2005 I-Light Symposium, Indiana's premier forum for high performance networking, computing, visualization and collaboration, which is mutually hosted by IU and Purdue.
"Establishing mutual wireless will make it easier for our teachers, students and researchers to work at the multiple campuses of IU Bloomington, IUPUI and Purdue West Lafayette. Although wireless and I-Light are different technologies, they both help us collaborate and connect with each other," said Bottum.
"Making our laptop access simpler and easier is an example on a small scale of the much more powerful I-Light technology," he continued. "And we should continue to work toward extending these capabilities across Indiana to other universities, colleges and related organizations."
For IU faculty members who collaborate extensively with colleagues at Purdue, the boundaries of the IU campuses' IT infrastructure have shifted further north in the state. They will soon be able to access their familiar campus environment while working offsite with colleagues.
Michael McRobbie, vice president for research and IT at IU, said, "I think it striking that the nation's top two wireless universities, according to Intel Corporation, are expanding their wireless capability even further by merging their wireless networks. This sort of seamless fabric among the state's great research institutions will further enhance collaboration among Purdue and IU researchers."
Testing for the mutual wireless capability has already begun, and plans are to make it available to IU and Purdue students, faculty and staff by the beginning of 2006.
