ACADEMIA

Leading polar scientists and technology developers will gather on the IU Bloomington campus for the 2014 Polar Technology Conference (PTC). Hosted by the Pervasive Technology Institute (PTI) at Indiana University, the annual event features discussions and presentations on technical challenges, innovative solutions and lessons learned in polar environment research. PTC will take place on April 15-17 at the Indiana Memorial Union.

"The Polar Technology Conference is a great opportunity for researchers from higher education, the private sector and other organizations to exchange information and ideas that can improve research in polar regions," said Richard Knepper, manager of campus bridging and research infrastructure within UITS Research Technologies -- a cyberinfrastructure and service center affiliated with PTI.

Knepper's team provides specialized IT support for NASA's Operation IceBridge, a six-year airborne mission to monitor the effects of climate change on Earth's polar ice sheets, glaciers and sea ice. (Read more about IU's work with Operation IceBridge:http://go.iu.edu/9pJ)

Polar venues represented at PTC will include under, on and above the ice, tundra and sea. The conference will also feature tutorial workshops and oral and poster presentations on topics such as power systems, robotics, telemetry and remote communications. PTC invites IU students, faculty and staff to submit presentations on relevant fields no later than Monday, March 24.

For more about this year's Polar Technology Conference, including cost, registration and abstract submission, visit polartechnologyconference.org.