Indiana University Research Technologies Announces Expanded Leadership Team

The Office of the Vice President for Information Technology and CIO at Indiana University has announced a series of appointments in the leadership team of its Research Technologies division to expand IU's role in advanced information technology and its applications in scholarly discovery and artistic creation. The Research Technologies (RT) division of University Information Technology Services (UITS) at IU supports next generation research through delivery and support of advanced cyberinfrastructure. RT also works to create the cyberinfrastructure of tomorrow through collaboration with IU computer scientists and involvement in national projects such as the TeraGrid and Open Science Grid. Brad Wheeler, vice president for Information Technology and CIO, said, "This new alignment will prepare IU to tackle some of the biggest and most important challenges in cyberinfrastructure in the coming decade, enabling IU to help the State of Indiana -- and our nation -- in accelerating innovation, improving global competitiveness, and building a stronger, more diverse 21st century workforce. I am particularly pleased to note that these appointments reflect a mix of internal promotions and strategic recruitment from outside the state." He added, "This approach to team building bodes well for the future of Indiana and its capabilities to support academic and industrial researchers." New and recent appointments include: D. Scott McCaulay - Director, Applications McCaulay oversees research computing applications support and development, ranging from statistical and mathematical applications, to some of the most advanced computer applications running on the TeraGrid, a national network of supercomputing resources for which IU is a resource provider. McCaulay also serves as principal investigator on IU's subcontract to provide grid operations support for the Open Science Grid. McCaulay has more than 25 years experience in IT as a programmer, project leader, and fiscal officer. Matthew Link - Director, Systems Link's responsibilities include oversight of IU's advanced cyberinfrastructure, including the Big Red and Quarry supercomputing clusters, as well as IU's massive data storage system. Link is also responsible for hardware implementation for the IU-led PolarGrid project, which will deploy a global computing grid used by environmental scientists to monitor polar ice sheets. Prior to assuming his current role, Link served as manager of RT High Performance Systems and the Unix Systems Support Group. Eric Wernert, Ph.D. - Senior Manager, Visualization and Futures Wernert manages IU's advanced visualization systems, ranging from the immersive 3D virtual reality theater to the lab-scale 50"x 50"x50" John-E-Box, which Wernert co-invented. Wernert is also involved in IU digital library projects, including the recently announced IU Institute for Digital Arts and Humanities. Wernert holds degrees in computer science and mathematics from Indiana University and Bellarmine College. Widely published, he has been a researcher and educator in the fields of visualization, virtual reality, and virtual environments for nearly 20 years. William Barnett, Ph.D. - Senior Manager, Life Sciences Barnett is the first person to hold this newly created position, which was designed to accelerate IU's progress in life sciences innovation using advanced technology. He is also the director of the Advanced IT Core for the IU School of Medicine. In this role, Barnett manages advanced cyberinfrastructure support for IU's life science research activities including the Indiana INGEN and METACyt initiatives funded by Lilly Endowment, Inc, as well as biomedical- and bioinformatics-based programs at IU Bloomington and IUPUI. Previously, he served as vice president and chief information officer of the Field Museum in Chicago. Prior to joining IU, Barnett was the deputy director of the Fresno Metropolitan Museum. Stephen Simms - IU TeraGrid Site Lead Simms coordinates IU's involvement in the TeraGrid national network of high performance computing and data storage resources. In this role, he oversees support and development of Science Gateways -- online tools that help scientists more easily access and use high performance computing resources such as IU's massive tape storage system and Big Red supercomputer. Simms also leads the IU Data Capacitor project, which was instrumental in IU's successful bid to win the 2007 Bandwidth Challenge, a prestigious international supercomputing competition. Simms holds degrees in mathematics and music composition from Wabash College and Roosevelt University. In addition to his current technology research interests, Simms has also developed software to integrate algorithmic music and video for live performance and is active in the local music community. Rob Quick - IU Open Science Grid Site Lead Quick manages Grid Operations Center functions for the Open Science Grid (OSG. He is currently the acting OSG Operations Coordinator and manages the OSG Operations Center, which provides user support, problem tracking, security response, and information and monitoring services to the OSG. Quick has been a technologist with the OSG team for four years prior to assuming his new role. Daphne Siefert-Herron - External Relations, Education and Outreach Coordinator Siefert-Herron manages external relations for RT, and represents IU on the TeraGrid's External Relations and Education, Outreach and Training committees. She will oversee IU's high performance computing education and training efforts, coordinating tutorials and presentations at national and international conferences such as the Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing and the Richard Tapia Conference on Diversity in Computing. Siefert-Herron also serves as Information Manager and Outreach Coordinator for IU's Pervasive Technology Labs, where she has worked for the past six years. Danko Antolovic', Ph.D. - Industrial Relations Liaison Antolovic' serves in a dual appointment, working as industrial liaison for RT and as a principal scientist with IBM, Inc. In his role as industrial liaison, Antolovic' will promote the use of IU's advanced cyberinfrastructure in industry to benefit the economy of the State of Indiana. Dr. Antolovic' will be IU's key contact to the private sector in the State of Indiana through a collaborative agreement recently announced involving IU, Purdue University, IBM, Inc and the Indiana Economic Development Corporation. Antolovic' is a graduate of Johns Hopkins University and Indiana University, and his recent professional activities have been in robotic vision and wireless communication technology. The Research Technologies division of UITS is led by Associate Dean Craig Stewart, who also serves as the chief operating officer of Pervasive Technology Labs at Indiana University. Stewart earned a Ph.D. in ecology and evolutionary biology at Indiana University, where he has been involved in information technology services since 1985. Stewart is currently principal investigator on the NSF and NIH grants which fund IU's involvement as a TeraGrid Resource Partner, the IU Data Capacitor project, and the informatics core of the Collaborative Initiative on Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders. For more about Research Technologies, see http://rc.uits.indiana.edu/. For more about the TeraGrid, see http://www.teragrid.org/. For more about the Open Science Grid, see http://www.opensciencegrid.org/. For more about Pervasive Technology Labs at Indiana University, see http://www.pervasive.iu.edu/.