ECE Professor Receives Internet2 IDEA Award

Professor Joseph JaJa (ECE/UMIACS) was among the winners of the first annual Internet2 Driving Exemplary Applications (IDEA) Awards. The new IDEA Awards program seeks to recognize leading innovators who have created and deployed advanced network applications that enable transformational progress in research, teaching, and learning, and hold the promise to maximize the impact of next-generation networks around the world. A total of four inaugural IDEA awards were given out.

Dr. JaJa’s award winning project, titled "Transcontinental Persistent Archives Prototype," addresses the nation’s challenge of safeguarding, preserving, and providing access to authentic electronic records that document the rights of American citizens and the national experience. The prototype is a federation of different, independently administered computing platforms that interact as a single virtual repository. The system is distributed among the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), the University of Maryland, and the San Diego Supercomputer Center (SDSC). The transcontinental persistent archives prototype is the product of a seven-year research effort that includes the contributions of the National Science Foundation’s Office of CyberInfrastructure, the SDSC, and the University of Maryland. JaJa’s fellow project collaborators and award recipients were Robert Chadduck of NARA and Reagan Moore of SDSC.

The four IDEA award winners, which were chosen from numerous distinguished nominations, will be presented tonight at Internet2's 2006 Spring Member Meeting held in Washington D.C. Additional information about the IDEA Awards can be found at: http://idea.internet2.edu/.

Published April 28, 2006