The Renaissance Computing Institute (RENCI) is seeking a Research Developer. This position entails the development and use of software tools for RENCI projects that involve local and national collaborations with a range of researchers.   The position will assist with developing, using, and deploying software and analytical tools to facilitate scientific computations in a variety of biomedical applications, such as genetic sequencing, medical imaging, and structural biology.  The position will also work on adapting new cyber technologies, such as data grids, cloud computing, distributed computing, and large scale data computing to biomedical applications.

The ideal candidate will have a Master’s degree in computer science or a related field.  Amount and type of experience may be a viable substitute for specific degree field listed.  
At least five years of professional experience in software development is required.

Expertise in both C/C++ and Java is required.  Experience with distributed and workflow-based computing is also required.  Experience with multi-threaded programming is required, parallel programming experience is preferred.

Interested candidates must complete an EPA Non-Faculty online application at http://jobs.unc.edu/1002456

The University is an Equal Opportunity, Affirmative Action Employer. Women and members of minority groups are encouraged to apply.

Consideration of candidates will begin immediately, and will continue until the search has been successfully concluded.

The Renaissance Computing Institute (RENCI) is seeking an IT Developer. This position provides experienced IT development and system administration capabilities for RENCI projects that involve local and national collaborations with a range of researchers.   RENCI projects often entail a significant amount of set up, administration, customization, and support of systems and this position will aid in those tasks across a wide variety of scientific domains and infrastructures (e.g., Windows, UNIX, mobile systems, distributed systems, databases, data grids, compute clouds).  The position will require light programming to aid in IT needs, such as generation of scripts, creating simple web pages, and accessing databases.

The ideal candidate will have a Master’s degree in computer science or a related field.  Amount and type of experience may be a viable substitute for specific degree field listed.  
At least four years of professional experience in IT or software development is required.

Ability to administer Windows and UNIX based computers, including configuration of users, networking, and system software, strong experience with system tools and scripting languages on multiple platforms, programming experience in a common language, such as Java or C/C++, experience with web programming, capacity for self-education, excellent oral and written communication skills, interpersonal communication, human relations and team building skills and the ability to foster and maintain collaborations with both academic and industrial researchers.

Interested candidates must complete an EPA Non-Faculty online application at http://jobs.unc.edu/1002457

The University is an Equal Opportunity, Affirmative Action Employer. Women and members of minority groups are encouraged to apply.

Consideration of candidates will begin immediately, and will continue until the search has been successfully concluded.

3D model looking south down Asheville’s Haywood Street with the Basilica of St. Lawrence (green domed roof) in the foreground.

As the city of Asheville considers how to redevelop sites in its busy and historic downtown, researchers at RENCI at UNC Asheville are assisting them with a tool that models design alternatives in an interactive, three-dimensional environment.

A new RENCI-developed model of Haywood Street  and the Civic Center/Basilica of St. Lawrence Plaza will be unveiled at a meeting at the Asheville Design Center on Wednesday, March 17. The model uses geo-referenced data to create an accurate, 3D animation of a portion of Haywood Street that includes the Asheville Civic Center, the adjacent Basilica of St. Lawrence, and a parcel across the street that includes a small parking lot and an empty storefront.

The city wants to redevelop that parcel but is sensitive to how redevelopment could impact the 100-year-old brick and stone Basilica, which sits on high ground at the north end of the street, its impressive façade viewable for several blocks.

The new RENCI tool creates a geo-referenced model of Haywood Street’s buildings, sidewalks and the street—complete with landscaping and architectural details so that users can easily recognize the locations in the model. When completed, the model will use the Unity 3D video game engine to allow users to walk around and view details from different perspectives, much as they would in a video game.

“We used building blueprints to make the most accurate models possible and to flesh out the details like windows and streetscapes,” said Jeff Hicks, a geospatial analyst at RENCI at UNC Asheville. “Incorporating the game engine will add a new level of interactivity.”

The tool will be a new-and-improved version of the decision support tool developed by RENCI at UNC Asheville to model the 2004 floods in the Biltmore Village area. The RENCI researchers partnered with The Elumenati an Asheville-based company that designs immersive projection systems, to incorporate the Unity 3D engine into the model.

The final interactive 3D rendering of Haywood Street is several months from completion. When completed, users will be able to view Haywood Street with the redeveloped parcel across the street from the Basilica in place. They will be able to see how the area would look with the sun at different angles, from different sides of the redeveloped parcel and under different proposed uses.

“It’s all about using the most trusted information to create tools that tell the story,” said Hicks. “The end goal is to support the decision makers.”

No store-bought tomatoes can compare with sweet, juicy, still-warm-from-the-sun heirloom varieties found at midsummer farmers’ markets.

Foodie pleasures aside, can consuming locally grown fruits and vegetables and locally raised meat lead to better health and help to combat obesity? Does buying food grown neaby help the local economy by keeping family farms viable as North Carolina transitions away tobacco farming? Does ‘buy local’ equate with ‘go green’ because fewer fossil fuels and pesticides are needed to move food from the fields to the dinner table?

Alice Ammerman and her multi-institutional, multi-disciplinary research team investigate these and other questions through a project funded by the Gillings Innovation Labs at UNC Chapel Hill. Ammerman, a professor of nutrition in the Gillings School of Global Public Health and director of the Center for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention at UNC, wants to understand the public health, economic, and environmental impacts of moving toward a local, sustainable food system. Her team involves experts in nutrition, public policy, economics and agriculture at UNC, Duke, NC State and NC A&T as well as software experts at RENCI who developed a tool dubbed the market locator.

The RENCI market locator will use demographic data such as income, population density and the presence of other markets and grocery stores in the area, as well as data on travel times around the area, to pinpoint the best strategic locations for new farmers’ markets.

The current version of the tool calculates a score indicating the income potential for a market located within a specific census block. The tool calculates potential for every census block in North Carolina, which allows the user to compare clocks to determine where markets are likely to succeed to pinpoint existing markets that are under performing.

To determine score, the tool looks at drive-time circles of different radii around the market location, the net income within the drive-time circles and uses a site location model that accounts for competition from other farmers’ markets.

Ammerman’s team and RENCI software developers plan to improve the tool by studying data from farmers’ markets in Washington state to better understand who shops at farmers’ markets (Baby Boomers vs. Gen Xers, for example). By more accurately identifying which area residents are likely to shop at a market, the tool will be better able to choose successful market locations, said Charles Schmitt, director of RENCI’s informatics division.

Above: RENCI’s market locator shows strategic sites for farmers’ markets based on population density and demographics. Researchers are fine-tuning the tool looking at what groups are most likely to shop at the markets.

“You want to know how many people live within driving distance of a given location, but more importantly, you want to know how many of them are likely to shop at a farmers’ market,” said Schmitt. “There could be many factors that come into play, from income to age to education level.”

Putting markets where they are most likely to succeed will give other researchers the chance to study whether markets help the pocketbooks of local farmers, the health of market customers and the environment through its focus on locally grown foods.

For more information see:
Linking local sustainable farming and health
Improving health and economies

Location: Asheville Design Center

Description: Jim Fox and Jeff Hicks will present their recent work in 3D computer modeling to help visualize urban design alternatives for downtown Asheville. As a work in progress, RENCI at UNC Asheville is refining a model of Haywood Street in front of the Saint Lawrence Basilica and the Civic Center. This model is to be used as a tool for studying the visual relationships of design alternatives for this cherished part of downtown Asheville. The framework for urban computer modeling can begin with aerial GIS and Google Earth type data, and with photographic drive-by images. Ultimately, visual modeling to produce photo-realism at street level requires a higher level of hand work and detail. The lecture will present the modeling techniques recently employed by RENCI in a 3D model for downtown Asheville.

RENCI has been a national leader in the computer visualization of flooding impacts due to climate change and impervious development. The Renaissance Computing Institute (RENCI), a multi-institutional organization, brings together multidisciplinary experts and advanced technological capabilities to address pressing research issues and to find solutions to complex problems that affect the quality of life in North Carolina, our nation and the world. Founded in 2004 as a major collaborative venture of Duke University, North Carolina State University, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the state of North Carolina, RENCI is a statewide virtual organization. RENCI at UNC Asheville was awarded the first engagement site outside of the Research Triangle in 2005.

Time: 6-7:30pm
Date: 2010-03-17

Watch entire video or click on any question below:

Q: You are a poet, author and editor and widely known as the founder of the ibiblio online digital library. Do you feel you are, as the Raleigh News & Observer once described you, a ‘renaissance geek?’

Q: How did ibiblio get started? What are the challenges facing ibiblio and data archives in general in 2010?

Q: Your work has coincided with the birth and growth of the Internet. What do you think will be the next great sea change?

Q: What is next for ibiblio? How will it change?

Q: Any advice for young people just beginning their careers?