National Science Foundation awards $1.2 Million to S.C. schools

The SCRA announces today the National Science Foundation has awarded $1.2 million to South Carolina for high-speed, high-capacity connections and enhanced classrooms at seven colleges and universities across the state.

School receiving the enhanced connections are Benedict College, Claflin University, Clemson University Edisto Research Extension Center, Orangeburg-Calhoun Technical College, S.C. State University, the University of South Carolina and USC Beaufort.

The SCRA will provide financial and administrative support for the award.

The project will install high-speed connections and new campus routers at Benedict, the Clemson Edisto REC, Orangeburg-Calhoun Tech and S.C. State. Classrooms with enhanced video communications capacity will be constructed at Benedict, Claflin, S.C. State, USC and USC Beaufort. Students will participate in real-time seminars and research presentations with faculty and students at universities around the state and nation.

The award will is designed to enhance the state’s cyber infrastructure in support two active NSF projects: The S.C. Project for Organ Biofabrication and a South Carolina-Tennessee partnership in advanced materials and systems biology.

SCRA said the increased connectivity complements the Legislature’s investment in S.C. LightRail, a high-speed, high-capacity fiber optic network, and Clemson’s investment in C-Light, a fiber optic network directly connected to Internet2 and the National Lambda Rail.

Faculty and students will have improved access to national resources such as the TeraGrid and Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Enhanced classrooms will open communications channels for faculty to share expertise, tools and facilities that have the potential to advance discovery.