Double Vision

Published: February 19, 2009
A Student project reinterprets the well-known photograph of a Vietnamese general executing a suspected traitor at point blank range by shifting the action to a hair salon and replacing the hand gun with a blow dryer

A Student project reinterprets the well-known photograph of a Vietnamese general executing a suspected traitor at point blank range by shifting the action to a hair salon and replacing the hand gun with a blow dryer.

When Susan Harbage Page heard about RENCI and its innovative uses of digital media technologies, she decided to visit the RENCI engagement center at UNC Chapel Hill.

A photographer and photography instructor at UNC, Harbage Page wanted to learn about the possibilities of using digital media with her intermediate photography class. Read more

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Preserving the past for future generations

Published: February 19, 2009

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How will our grandchildren understand the dramatic events of the 2008 U.S. presidential election if they can’t access the rich digital information that documented and, arguably, influenced the process? Read more

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RENCI at ECU hosts local kids for Gettysburg Address reading

Published: February 18, 2009
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Kids at RENCi at ECU read the Gettysburg Address simultaneously with school children across the nation as part of the celebration of Lincoln’s 200th birthday.

At 10 a.m. on February 12, home-schooled students from the Greenville area gathered around the visualization wall at RENCI at East Carolina University (ECU) to participate in a worldwide celebration of Abraham Lincoln’s 200th birthday.

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RENCI 2.0 is here

Published: February 6, 2009

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We have redesigned our website in order to give our users a web presence that is robust, interactive, visually interesting and takes full advantage of social networking tools.

The new site prominently features RENCI-produce video, scientific images and animations. All videos are included on our YouTube site, while photos are available via Flickr. A new RENCI Facebook site allows Facebook users to become friends of RENCI and receive regular updates, and users also can follow RENCI on Twitter. A blog role with RSS feed, featuring several new RENCI blogs, offers insight on technology issues and information about RENCI events and projects. The site also makes it simple to share news items with others or to comment on any of our web content.

We invite you to explore and we welcome your feedback: webmaster at renci.org.

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Accessing the big picture

Published: February 4, 2009

Chapel Hill Assistant Fire Marshall Dace Bergen on board a fire truck equipped with the RENCI-developed Automated Vehicle Location System.

When it comes to managing an emergency, you can’t have too much information. Sensor and wireless communication technologies make it possible to monitor and manage fire trucks and rescue vehicles in the field, but relatively few vehicles are equipped with such technologies. The software needed for such systems is often costly and the learning curve steep. Read more

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RENCI Weather Web project begins year 2 with new competition

Published: February 3, 2009

CHAPEL HILL, NC, February 3, 2009- North Carolina counties that lack weather stations–and therefore lack detailed weather data–will once again have the chance to acquire a research and operational grade weather station through the Renaissance Computing Institute (RENCI) Weather Web project, aimed at enhancing weather-related K-12 education and at improving the quantity and quality of weather data in underserved areas of the state. Read more

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RENCI, ITS host lecture on distributed computing

Published: January 29, 2009

Miron Livny, a professor of computer science at the University of Wisconsin and a well-known expert on distributed processing and high throughput computing, will provide an overview of two national distributed computing facilities at a Feb. 23 lecture. The talk begins at 10:15 a.m. at 011 Sitterson Hall on the UNC-Chapel Hill campus. It will last about an hour and will be followed by a short question and answer session.

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RENCI joins with Coastal Studies Institute to assist coastal communities

Published: January 6, 2009

CHAPEL HILL, NC, January 5, 2009—The Renaissance Computing Institute (RENCI), a multi-institutional North Carolina research organization, now has a presence in Dare County through an agreement with the University of North Carolina Coastal Studies Institute (CSI) to locate a RENCI technology specialist at CSI.

Kevin Gamiel, a five-year RENCI employee who grew up in Manteo and graduated from Manteo High School, is now RENCI Community Engagement Manager. He will work at CSI’s Nags Head Laboratory and provide a link between the institute and its researchers and Chapel Hill-based RENCI. Read more

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The Science of Sound

Published: December 30, 2008

Visualization project aims to help the deaf hear.

Charles Finley, a research associate professor in the Univeristy of North Carolina School of Medicine, leads a team that uses high performance computing and advanced visualization tools to improve the design and application of cochlear implants. These implants can restore hearing in people with profound hearing losses enough to restore functional speech understanding of speech and other sounds. A receiver on the exterior of the skull collects sound and passes electric impulses to the implant, which generates electric impulses to stimulate nerve cells in the inner ear. Read more

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Carolina Entrepreneurs launch business ideas at RENCI

Published: December 12, 2008

CHAPEL HILL, December 12, 2008–Carolina Launch Pad, the new pre-commercial incubator for UNC-Chapel Hill faculty, staff and students, is underway and its five inaugural ventures moved into office space at the Renaissance Computing Institute (RENCI) in early December. Read more

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