Rodger Hess Awarded Innovations In Networking Award for Outstanding Technical Contribution

Rodger Hess is being honored by the Corporation for Education Network Initiatives in California (CENIC) with the 2016 Innovations in Networking Award for Outstanding Technical Contribution. Rodger has been a member of the CENIC networking community since its inception. He was a significant contributor to the original backbone design for CalREN. Rodger led a national study group in 2007 on research and education backbone networks and trends in research networking. He was also involved in working groups that addressed backbone design, routing, and instrumentation.

“One of the things I appreciate about Rodger is his brilliance in network design. The Advisory Councils, as well as CENIC and the CENIC Community, have benefited from his brilliance and tireless commitment to doing what was best and what was right,” said Doug Hartline, Director of Core Technologies at UC Santa Cruz and Chair of the CENIC Business Advisory Committee.

Rodger participated in efforts to redesign the high-performance and experimental and developmental tiers of CalREN: CalREN-HPR and CalREN-XD. Early in the development of the CENIC backbone network, he was instrumental in acquiring the first point of presence (POP) in downtown Sacramento, which served as a hub for connecting UC Davis Medical Center, UC Davis, and UC Davis Health Sciences. This POP later became a core component in the long term CENIC North-South backbone.

“For many years, Rodger was a major contributor to discussions about CENIC technical directions. He gave willingly his time and expertise, even while holding down full-time major roles at UC Davis. His leadership of the HPR TAC was especially appreciated by CENIC management and CENIC member institutions alike,” said Jim Dolgonas, former CENIC President and CEO (2002 – 2012).

Rodger Hess’ many contributions also include leadership roles as the chair of CENIC’s High-Performance Research Technical Advisory Council in 2009 and again in 2011. CENIC’s Technical Advisory Councils are composed of volunteers from member institutions, and the Councils are the means by which the infrastructure expertise, wisdom, and knowledge of California’s research and education communities are aggregated and used to design, implement, and evolve the 3,800-mile, fiber-optic-based CalREN. Thanks to CalREN’s High-Performance Research tier (CalREN-HPR), which links the state’s top research universities to one another and to institutions around the world, researchers at these institutions can collaborate on some of the most urgent data-intensive challenges confronting humanity today, including climate research, biomedical “omics” research (genomics, proteomics, and metabolomics), astronomy, and high-energy physics.

“Rodger played an important and integral role in both the initial design and evolution of the CalREN network and CENIC services through his active participation in a variety of working groups and on the High-Performance Research Technical Advisory Committee (HPR TAC), including leading the HPR TAC as chair,” said John Dundas, CENIC’s Chief Technology Officer, and former CENIC Board and HPR TAC member.

Innovations in Networking Awards are presented each year by CENIC to highlight the exemplary innovations that leverage ultra high-bandwidth networking, particularly where those innovations have the potential to transform the ways in which instruction and research are conducted or where they further the deployment of broadband in underserved areas.

About CENIC • www.cenic.org
CENIC connects California to the world—advancing education and research statewide by providing the world-class network essential for innovation, collaboration and economic growth. The nonprofit organization operates the California Research and Education Network (CalREN), a high-capacity network designed to meet the unique requirements of over 20 million users, including the vast majority of K-20 students together with educators, researchers and other vital public-serving institutions. CENIC’s Charter Associates are part of the world’s largest education system; they include the California K-12 system, California Community Colleges, the California State University system, California’s Public Libraries, the University of California system, Stanford, Caltech, and USC. CENIC also provides connectivity to leading-edge institutions and industry research organizations around the world, serving the public as a catalyst for a vibrant California.

©2024 Pacific Wave. The Pacific Wave International Research and Education Exchange is a project jointly operated by the Corporation for Education Network Initiatives in California (CENIC) & Pacific Northwest Gigapop (PNWGP).