The grant will fund “Expanding and Improving the C-Light Regional Optical Network,” a project to augment inadequate and incomplete cyberinfrastructure facilities, providing researchers with greater access to high-speed cyberinfrastructure and the means to open new paths to scientific discovery.

Clemson Chief Technology Officer James Pepin is overseeing the project and said the work will be finished in six months.

“Networks like this are a catalyst to the research community. There are researchers in multiple fields in the state who are world-class. Our universities are recruiting leading researchers and support staff in all areas of science and engineering. The nation needs to have strong research programs all over the country to support a vibrant economy,” he said.

The work will be done on the C-Light Regional Optical Network and the South Carolina Light Rail (SCLR) that link researchers across South Carolina with other national and international research entities, enabling full-speed access to national cyberinfrastructure. Formed in 2007, the South Carolina Light Rail is lead by the three major research universities in South Carolina: Clemson, the Medical University of South Carolina and the University of South Carolina.

“The state’s colleges and universities have the research base, need and drive to build, use and support the network. We had lacked the funding to procure parts we need to revitalize our infrastructure. Cyberinfrastructure is just as important as a real building for our community,” Pepin said.

Clemson Chief Information Officer Jim Bottum, the principal investigator for the project, said the state’s connection to a national cyberinfrastructure, which was jump-started by the privately funded C-Light network, has been slowed by cuts in state funding. Funds for the South Carolina Light Rail piece of the state network were provided in 2007, halved in 2008 and eliminated in 2009, leaving the network unfinished.

“The state, for many reasons, just started to deploy a research and education network via C-Light and SCLR. Our development has been slowed by the state budget crisis,” Bottum said.

The existing network was partially built with state budget allocations over the last two years that have stopped this year.

“South Carolina has arrived late to the regional network party,” Bottum said. “The existing facilities are a hodge-podge of locally acquired commercial network service-based offerings with some wavelengths and some lit and unlit fiber.”

Jill Gemmill, executive director of cyberinfrastructure technology integration at Clemson, will serve as the project liaison to the research community. Gemmill has more than 25 years of experience in research application support.