January 16, 2001

Networking Technology Institute Opens at NC State

NC State announces the establishment of the Networking Technology Institute (NTI). Directed by Dennis Kekas, director of networking technology for the College of Engineering, the NTI will act as an umbrella organization for the coordination and integration of research, education and service activities in the area of networking infrastructure, network-based applications and internet-related end-user activities. Three facilities will be under this umbrella: the Center for Advanced Computing and Communication (CACC), the Centennial Networking Laboratory (CNL), and the Multimedia Laboratory.

Kekas explained that networking disciplines focus on network/computing technologies whereas multimedia disciplines include computer graphics, animation and voice recognition. "With the explosive growth of the internet, focus has shifted to the network infrastructure elements, as well as on the ability of high performance applications to operate over networks," Kekas stated.

CACC is an industry/university cooperative research center started in 1981 to pursue research in such areas as networking systems, digital networks, image processing and digital communication systems. In 1995 Duke University became an affiliate of the CACC. The CACC is the oldest NSF-sponsored center of its type in the country.

CNL provides networking analytical services focusing on such areas as network industry certification, Web and e-commerce performance and analysis and start-up consulting. CNL was recently selected by Cisco to serve as a University practice lab to support Cisco's Certified Internetworking Expert (CCIE) program. The Multimedia Laboratory was established in 1998 to support research and education of computer science graduates and undergraduates in such fields as multimedia technology, high speed communications and network-based educational technology.

Kekas pointed out that these programs within the Institute, with others to be developed, will bring faculty, researchers and industry partners together in "a collaborative environment to better address the next-generation technology needs of the networking industry that is experiencing a burgeoning growth in the development of networks, internet and wireless technologies."

-- rudd --

Technical Contact: Mr. Dennis Kekas, kekas@csc.ncsu.edu, 919/ 515-5297
Media Contact: Linda E. Rudd, linda_rudd@ncsu.edu, 919/ 515-3848

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