Press Releases
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UNIVERSITY OF CALGARY FACULTY OF MEDICINE CHOSEN AS SUN MICROSYSTEMS CENTER OF EXCELLENCE FOR VISUAL GENOMICSSANTA CLARA, Calif., November 29, 2001 - Sun Microsystems announced today that a research team in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Calgary has been selected as a Sun Center of Excellence (COE) for Visual Genomics. This new Sun COE joins a world-wide network of academic institutions developing advanced technology to do groundbreaking research in computational biology. "Sun chose the University of Calgary as a COE for Visual Genomics in recognition of Dr. Christoph Sensen's plans to build a CyberCell, a 3-dimensional representation biological system with a Java-3D enabled CAVE, using a SunFire 6800," says Dr. Stefan Unger, Business Development Manager for Computational Biology at Sun Microsystems. Additional components include further enhancements to MAGPIE and BLUEJAY (genomics software), development of a comprehensive Web portal, bioinformatics training, and participation in Genome Canada projects. "We welcome this partnership with Sun Microsystems" says Dr. Sensen, Professor, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Calgary, Faculty of Medicine. "This is the first installation in the world of a Java-3D enabled CAVE outside of Sun research laboratories, giving U of C a global competitive advantage." "This partnership will help to enhance research and development opportunities between the University of Calgary and Sun, benefitting the two partners and also the people of Alberta," says Dr. Keith Archer, Interim Vice-President (Research), U of C. "This new research facility into visual genomics is a unique facility among Canadian universities, and provides opportunities for high-tech jobs for our graduates and new spin-off companies for Alberta." The University of Calgary is collaborating with Sun and colleagues at the University of Alberta (Edmonton, Canada), the University of Lethbridge (Lethbridge, Canada) and Genome Prairie, a national genomic research collective. "We are delighted to be working with Dr. Sensen at the University of Calgary and his partners. This is a bold and innovative project in the field of computational biology," says Unger. "One of the biggest challenges we have in post-genomics is finding ways of understanding the tremendous amount of complex data that is generated. This COE will allow new insights into the complexity of genomic data." Sun's COE program promotes collaboration to help build new technologies and communities that advance academic research. In addition to University of Calgary, Sun has already established COEs in computational biology at the Virginia Bioinformatics Institute, the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the Delaware Biotechnology Institute, the Beijing Genomics Institute, and the Ohio Supercomputer Center/Children's Medical Center of Cincinnati. Sun Microsystems in Education Sun is a leading provider of open network computing solutions to colleges and universities around the world, powering academic, research and high performance computing systems, campus administration, digital libraries and student instructions systems. In addition, Sun is committed to connecting the world's students to the Internet, beginning with primary and secondary schools and extending to all levels of higher education. For more information: www.sun.com/edu About Sun Microsystems Since its inception in 1982, a singular vision - The Network Is The Computer - has propelled Sun Microsystems, Inc. (Nasdaq: SUNW) to its position as a leading provider of industrial-strength hardware, software and services that power the Internet and allow companies worldwide to take their businesses to the nth. Sun can be found in more than 170 countries and on the World Wide Web at http://www.sun.com. # # # FOR MORE INFORMATION: Doron Aronson Karen Thomas | ||
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