Prof. Graciela Perera of Northeastern Illinois University (NEIU), together with Prof. Jeannie Albrecht of Williams College, organized a GENI Regional Workshop at NEIU’s El Centro campus in Chicago on September 18 and 19, 2015. The workshop was a great success with all post-workshop survey respondents rating it a 4 or 5, with 5 being “Super”. 85% of the respondents said that after the workshop they were likely to use GENI for their research or teaching.
About 50 faculty, students and networking researchers from 18 different institutions participated in the workshop. 20 attendees were from NEIU and 32 were within driving distance of Chicago. Since NEIU is a designated Hispanic-serving institution, the workshop drew a very diverse set of participants including under-represented minorities.
The morning of the first day of the workshop included a keynote speech presented by Brighten Godfrey of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; an overview of GENI by Niky Riga of the GENI Project Office; and talks by Graciela Perera and Jay Aikat (University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill) on their experiences using GENI in their classroom.
Figure 1. Workshop participants hear Brighten Godfrey speak about his GENI-based research.
The next day and a half of the workshop included presentations and hands-on tutorials on topics such as software defined networking using OpenFlow, cloud computing experiments, experimentation with wireless resources, and systematic experimentation using GENI. Tutorial topics were selected based on preferences indicated by participants during registration. The agenda included parallel sessions to cater to different participant preferences and prior experiences with GENI.
Figure 2. A discussion on the use of hands-on labs in computer science education.
Regional workshops represent a new approach to introducing students, researchers, and educators to GENI and its capabilities. The NEIU workshop is the second in the series, following last year’s inaugural Baltimore-area workshop at Morgan State University. Regional workshops deliver a focused introduction to GENI, using the lecture and hands-on tutorial information that new users find most helpful to begin using GENI effectively in their work. If you are interested in attending a GENI regional workshop near you or hosting one at your institution, write to help@geni.net.
Many thanks to Graciela, Maria Luna-Duarte and the staff at El Centro for hosting this workshop and handling tutorial logistics including networking, audio/visual equipment, local transportation and publicizing the event in the Chicago area colleges and universities. And thanks to Karim and Alma for catering the delicious food served at the workshop.