About the series
Presenters: Marla Meehl and Gwendolyn (Wendy) Huntoon
Presenters bios:
Marla Meehl has over 20 years of experience managing large research and education network projects. In Marla’s leadership role as Head of the Network Engineering and Telecommunications Section (NETS) in the Computational and Information Systems Laboratory (CISL) at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), she routinely manages a multi-million dollar budget with a staff of 23, in the fulfillment of numerous large scale networking programs supporting the scientists and researchers in the utilization of NCAR high performance computational and data resources. In addition, Marla has been instrumental in the formation and development of external networking projects and activities for the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR) including the Front Range GigaPoP (FRGP), Bi-State Optical Network (BiSON), and the Boulder Point of Presence (BPoP). Marla has a strong relationship with and is a leader in the regional research and education community including the Western Regional Network (WRN), Pacific Research Platform (PRP), the National Research Platform (NRP), is on the Internet2 and Quilt Board of Directors, and is the President of the Westnet Education and Research Consortium (WERC). Marla is the Principle Investigator on the NSF CC* Women in IT Networking at SC (WINS) grant and is a Co-PI on the NSF CC* grant with Navajo Tech University entitled “Nilch’ bee naa alkaa go ohooa doo eidii t’įį” (Translation from the Navajo language: “Using air (technology) to learn and understand new things”). Marla is also the co-chair of the Internet2 Inclusivity Initiative (I2I).
Gwendolyn (Wendy) Huntoon is the president and CEO of KINBER, the Keystone Initiative for Network Based Education and Research. She is known for her work to enhance high performance networking infrastructure, technology, and services for the research community, including cyberinfrastructure deployment and network performance analysis and tuning. While at KINBER, she has expanded KINBER’s PennREN network, grown the number of connections, expanded service offerings, and enhanced the support for research and education applications and drivers. She is the co-PI on the NSF funded Women in IT Networking at SC (WINS) project aimed at addressing the prevalent gender gap that exists in Information Technology (IT) particularly in the fields of network engineering and high performance computing (HPC). She was the Principal Investigator on the NSF funded NSF Campus Cyberinfrastructure and Cybersecurity Innovation for Cyberinfrastructure PI Workshops (2016, 2017, 2018) as well as the CC*IIE Region: Accelerating the Adoption of Campus Cyberinfrastructure Technologies in Pennsylvania. Huntoon is currently a member DoE Advanced Scientific Computing Advisory Committee and serves on the Internet2 Network Architecture, Operations and Policy program advisory group. Prior to joining KINBER, she was the Director of Advanced Networking at the Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center and also served in Intenet2’s CTO’s office as the Senior Director of Research and Science Engagement. She has a Masters Degree in Electrical Engineering from Northeastern University and a Bachelors Degree in Mathematics and History from Bowdoin College.
Abstract: The Women in IT Networking at SC (WINS) program was developed to address the gender gap prevalent in information technology, especially in network engineering and high performance computing. Originally introduced as a pilot program at SC15, the program provides mentorship and travel funding for up to 5-8 talented early to mid-career women from diverse regions of the U.S. research and education IT community for a true “hands on” experience in the ground-up construction of SCinet, one of the fastest and most advanced computer networks in the world. SCinet, the Supercomputing Conference’s (SC) dedicated high-performance research network, provides an ideal “apprenticeship” opportunity for engineers and technologists looking for direct access to the most cutting-edge network hardware and software, while working side-by-side with the world’s leading network and software engineers, and the top network technology vendors. Since the WINS program started in 2015, it has had a significant impact on diversity of the SCinet team. WINS is a joint effort between the Energy Sciences Network (ESnet), KINBER, and the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR). It is funded by an NSF grant and, through ESnet, by the Department of Energy.
How to Attend: Plan to join us on Thursday May 16, 2019 at 2pm by registering at: https://nsf2.webex.com/nsf2/onstage/g.php?MTID=ea7682188ed36688b7362b2b147e29138
OAC - CI Webinar Series Format: The format for the webinar will begin with opening remarks from OAC director, Dr. Manish Parashar and a speaker introduction. The presentation will follow, concluding with a 5-10min Q&A. Questions must be sent via email and will be read by the moderator at the conclusion of the presentation. The webinars will be recorded and posted on the NSF website.
