News for and about the Internet2 community

["Lauren B. Kallens" <>]

UTEP Announces Unprecedented Expansion of Next Generation 
Networking Capabilities Between U.S. and Mexico 

—First-ever University-Owned Fiber Optic Connection Between U.S. and Mexico
to Enhance International Research Opportunities —

El Paso, TX — Science and technology leaders from the United States and
Mexico joined  University of Texas at El Paso officials today to launch the
first-ever university-owned fiber optic connection between the U.S. and
Mexico. 

The new high-capacity connection between UTEP and the Universidad Autónoma
de Ciudad Juárez opens the door to unprecedented collaboration opportunities
between the two sister universities and 78 Mexican universities and research
centers interconnected by Mexico’s Corporación Universitaria para el
Desarollo de Internet, A.C. network. The new link will connect the CUDI
network to the more than 200 organizations connected to the U.S. Internet2
high-performance backbone network.   
  
“UTEP is very pleased to have been able to work with our colleagues in
Mexico to build an enhanced technology infrastructure that will serve as a
huge asset for future education, research and public sector collaborations,”
UTEP President Diana Natalicio said. 

Less than four years ago, UTEP and UACJ connected using a low-capacity
wireless link. Beginning today, UTEP’s connection to UACJ will provide a
link 100 times faster than the original.

This enhanced capacity connection will be used primarily for advanced
research and instruction, but will also allow connectivity to Internet2’s
network for the transport of super-size data files to create interactive
distance learning, digital libraries, virtual laboratories and more across
the globe

Additionally, UTEP plans to work with other Internet2 members to develop and
deploy new Internet applications and make them accessible to the general
public in the future.

Through Internet2’s network, UTEP researchers have been collaborating with
scientists at Stanford University to study how desert plants clean
contaminated soil. UTEP librarians use Internet2’s network to share
data-intensive collections of historical photos.

Led by more than 200 U.S. universities working with industry and government,
Internet2 is a national consortium that works with its member community to
develop and deploy advanced network applications and technologies. 

Its high performance national U.S. backbone, which links over 200 leading
U.S. institutions and connects to close to 70 international research
networks, enables researchers, scientists and students to collaborate with
their peers around the world in ways not possible on today’s commodity
Internet.

“We applaud the international connection made here today. This new fiber
optic link we are lighting will play a critical role in strengthening the
ties — both literally and figuratively — between the U.S. and Mexican
research communities,” said Douglas Van Houweling, president and CEO of
Internet2. “By bringing together the best minds in research and education in
North America via advanced networking, we have opened a new avenue for
extraordinary progress and innovation.”

Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison, who helped secure funding for this effort,
said, “This partnership will unite top minds from Texas and Mexico to make
progress in areas of common interest in a way that was unthinkable a decade
ago. I am proud I was able to secure federal funding to help make this
initiative possible.  I look forward to the many breakthroughs this
partnership will yield in the months and years ahead.”

This latest development in advanced international networking was a joint
effort led by UTEP, UACJ, Internet2 and CUDI in collaboration with the
cities of El Paso and Ciudad Juárez. 

“We finally have our own physical fiber optic connection to the United
States research and education networks,” said CUDI CEO Carlos Casasús. “We
are pleased that this infrastructure will provide capacity for collaborative
work in science and education among the leading academic institutions on
both sides of the US-Mexico border for many years to come.”

CUDI, Mexico's National Research and Education Networking organization and
an Internet2 partner since 1999, seeks to drive the development of Internet
applications and foster the collaboration of its members in research and
educational projects in Mexico.

 “We greatly appreciate the efforts of Douglas Van Houweling and his
Internet2 team in the United States and Carlos Casasús and the CUDI
organization in Mexico for their support of this important binational
initiative, and we are honored that the directors of the NSF and CONACyT
have joined us to celebrate this major milestone,” Natalicio said. 

###
        
The University of Texas at El Paso is a major urban research university with
a Mexican-American majority student population. The university serves more
than 18,900 students and is one of only 11 higher education institutions
across the nation to receive the “Teachers for a New Era” grant from the
Carnegie Corporation.

 For more UTEP news and information, visit www.utep.edu/horizons

Contact: Cindy Ramírez

or Donna Dennis Muñoz
UTEP Office of University Communications
915/747-5526