RIT Appoints Executive Director for “Cyberinfrastructure” Research Center

Rochester Institute of Technology has appointed Guy Johnson as executive director of the Center for Advancing the Study of Cyberinfrastructure (CASCI), a research center at RIT's B. Thomas Golisano College of Computing and Information Sciences. The center aims to foster interdisciplinary research, using state-of-the art computing to make studies more productive in engineering and scientific fields, including social sciences and the humanities.

Johnson, a Henrietta resident, has served in a variety of roles at RIT since 1974, most recently as vice dean of the College of Applied Science and Technology and director of the National Technology Training Center. From 1985-1991, Johnson was chair of information technology in the former School of Computer Science and Technology.

“This is an exciting opportunity to work with people at RIT in supporting the next levels of accomplishment in research in their disciplines,” states Johnson. “I have always found the most fascinating aspect of computing to be the uses that allow people to challenge real problems using modern technology. The advanced cyberinfrastructure that we pursue will allow scientists, engineers and others to recognize issues and try new solutions and ideas that would have not been possible before.”

Cyberinfrastructure, as defined by the National Science Foundation, describes the global information technology environments in which the highest level of computing tools are available to researchers and professionals in all disciplines.

Several of RIT's eight colleges are participating in CASCI research. The new center is structured to provide the opportunity for faculty members from several disciplines to team up and work together to leverage cooperation from each other through a number of specialty labs. For more information on the labs, visit www.casci.rit.edu.