Two Categories of Awards Recognize Innovative and Influential Advanced Applications that Leverage IP and Optical Networking: At its annual Spring Member Meeting, Internet2 announced the 2008 winners of its Internet2 Driving Exemplary Applications (IDEA) Awards program which seeks to recognize leading innovators who have created and deployed advanced network applications that have enabled transformational progress in research, teaching and learning. This year Internet2 introduced, in partnership with Level 3 Communications, a new award category called the Wave of the Future which focused on applications that specifically require or make use of dedicated optical circuit technology. This year's IDEA Award winners include Bradley University's production of "The Adding Machine" and the U.S. National Library of Medicine at the National Institutes of Health's "Geography-independent Cancer Research Tools." The IDEA Wave of the Future Award winner is The CSIRO Australia Telescope National Facility's "Using Advanced Networks to Transform High-Angular Resolution Astrophysics." The University of Delaware's Phoebus project and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln's High-Energy Physics dynamic circuit network data transfer application earned honorable mentions. "We are excited to extend this latest round of IDEA Awards to our colleagues who have truly pushed the boundaries of new technology and networking to make significant progress in their individual application fields," said Jack Suess, CIO, University of Maryland, Baltimore County and vice-chair, Internet2 Applications, Middleware & Services Advisory Council (AMSAC). "In doing so, these applications and their collaborators also serve as models for the entire community and we believe in turn will open new opportunities for a broader sector of our members and partners." Chosen from many distinguished nominations, the winning submissions were judged on the depth of their positive impact on their primary users, their technical merit, and the likelihood the application would be more broadly adopted. Bradley University's innovative multimedia production of Elmer Rice's "The Adding Machine" was a dynamic intermedial collaboration that integrated remote actors from various locations onto the stage in Peoria, Ill. using advanced videoconference technology. The performance, created in collaboration with the University of Waterloo and the University of Central Florida, also utilized virtual scenery, recorded video, avatar performers, photographs, graphics and sound to create one of the most visually powerful live performances. The school continues to explore and innovate performance techniques with these technologies on other theatrical events. "The convergence of theatre performance, production and dramaturgy with multimedia, streaming video technology and advanced networking systems brought many talented individuals together to literally re-invent the stage with 'The Adding Machine.'" said Bradley University president Joanne K. Glasser. "Collaboration on an unprecedented scale was central to the success of this innovative project, which was created by dynamic interdisciplinary teamwork among five academic and administrative units on the Bradley campus; enthusiastic interaction with local and national commercial and professional partners; and the international inter-institutional collaboration with our colleagues at the University of Waterloo and the University of Central Florida. Supporting this interactivity was the advanced networking infrastructure that served as the vital conduit that connected it all together. Without Internet2, this work would have gone--literally--nowhere. We are humbled and grateful to Internet2 for this prestigious award." The U.S. National Library of Medicine at the National Institutes of Health is developing advanced network-based tools and techniques that leverage the speed and capability of research networks like Internet2 to enable doctors from around the world to more effectively participate in cancer research studies and enable more comprehensive analysis of cancer research data. These tools have transformed the way geographically distant cancer researchers are able to collaborate (e.g., over 40 researchers and medical professionals across 6 countries) who have now conducted over ten studies in just two years which has significantly benefitted the field. While these breakthrough tools are currently being utilized for cervical cancer research, there is significant potential for extending their use broadly in the biomedical field. "Advanced research networks such as Internet2 could not be more critical in the global enterprise to address the world's health by enabling geographically distant researchers and health care workers to collaborate remotely," said George Thoma, chief, Communications Engineering Branch, U.S. National Library of Medicine. "The tools include systems to store thousands of images and longitudinal patient records, and provide access to these images by shape, color and texture features. The focus of current research is to study cervical cancer caused by the Human Papillomavirus, but other research areas are planned." Lastly, the CSIRO Australia Telescope National Facility received the award for its recognized leadership in the development and use of the electronic Very Long Baseline Interferometry (e-VLBI) technique. E-VLBI is considered one of the most powerful methods for high-resolution imaging of distant radio sources, such as pulsars, quasars and radio galaxies. The technique links geographically dispersed telescopes using advanced optical networks for near real time analysis of telescope data. The CSIRO team has worked closely with other institutions in Asia, Europe and the United States. As the winner of the Wave of the Future award, the team will receive a dedicated optical circuit for a one year period from Internet2 WaveCo, sponsored by Level 3 Communications. "Though we have made enormous progress since our first e-VLBI tests in 2006, we had not yet been able to just set up an experiment and press the 'GO' button. This dedicated circuit will let us explore ways to overcome these challenges and move forward with more aggressive e-VLBI experimentation. More than that, what we discover about overcoming high data throughput roadblocks can be applied to applications in other scientific disciplines," said Dr. Shaun Amy, data transmission specialist for CSIRO's Australia Telescope National Facility. Awards were presented at Internet2's 2008 Spring Member Meeting held in Arlington, Virginia on April 22, 2008. Additional information about the Internet2 IDEA Awards can be found at: its Web site. To view the netcast of the awards presentation, see: its Web site. Additional Details: Bradley University's Live Multimedia Production of "The Adding Machine" Collaborators: * George Brown, Director - Chair, Department of Theatre Arts, Bradley University * Jim Ferolo, Art Director - Chair, Multimedia Program, Bradley University * Chuck Ruch, Associate Provost of IRT, Bradley University * Gerd Hauck, Chair - Department of Drama and Speech Communication, University of Waterloo * John Wayne Shafer, University of Central Florida Conservatory Theatre U.S. National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health Collaborators: * George Thoma, Chief, Communications Engineering Branch, National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health * Sameer Antani, Staff Scientist, National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health * L. Rodney Long, Electronics Engineer, National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health * Mark Schiffman, Senior Investigator, National Cancer Institute Wave of the Future The CSIRO Australia Telescope National Facility's "Using Advanced Networks to Transform High-Angular Resolution Astrophysics." Collaborators: * Shaun Amy, Data Transmission Specialist, CSIRO Australia Telescope National Facility * Chris Phillips, e-VLBI Project Scientist, CSIRO Australia Telescope National Facility * Tasso Tzioumis, Project Leader, Australia Long Baseline Array, CSIRO Australia Telescope National Facility * Adam Deller Ph.D., Student, Swinburne University of Technology