Facilities
that support GIS education and research activities
at NC State include:
NCSU
Libraries Geospatial (GIS) Data Services
NCSU
Information Technology Division
Geographic
Information Systems Education Laboratory
Design
Research & Extension Program
NCSU-Kenan
Natural Hazards Mapping Program
Social
Science Research and Computing Lab
Center
for Earth Observation
The
Institute for Transportation Research and
Education
NCSU
Libraries Geospatial (GIS) Data Services
The
NCSU Libraries provides assistance in locating,
selecting, and using GIS data resources. The
Libraries provide networked access to a wide
variety of data resources and also make available
GIS software.
In
September 2001, the NCSU Libraries was chosen
from more than 60,000 organizations worldwide
to receive a Special Achievement Award recognizing
its accomplishments in GIS technology from the
Environmental Systems Research Institute.
Getting
Data: The Libraries provides access
to a wide range of data resources, much of which
is accessible to the campus community. Libraries
GIS Team members will assist researchers in
identifying additional sources of value-added
and public domain geographic and attribute data
and, if possible, will acquire it and provide
on-site access. Referrals may be made to data
clearinghouses. Major Libraries GIS data acquisitions
are announced on the GIS-ANNOUNCE e-mail list.
Software
and Workstations: Access to many ESRI
software products such as ArcGIS are available
through NCSU's campus site license. All Unity
workstations in public labs can run ArcGIS.
The NCSU Libraries provides access to selected
GIS software packages. Publicly accessible GIS
computers are available at two library locations.
Instruction
& Assistance: ESRI Virtual Campus
online GIS training courses are available to
NCSU faculty, staff, and students at no charge.
In addition, on-site, individualized assistance
is available by appointment. Assistance via
e-mail or telephone is also provided. GIS users
may post technical questions or start discussions
on the NCSU-GIS e-mail list.
NCSU
Information Technology Division
North Carolina State University's Information
Technology Division (ITD) provides systems and
services essential to the functioning of the
university as a whole—from a state-of-the-technology
network backbone, to computing account privileges,
to help desk support available to all NC State
students faculty and staff.
ITD
is made up of five units:
Computing Services provides many forms
of technology user support, including the
campus central IT Help Desk, training, special
events, software licenses, publications, Remedy
call-tracking,the Distributed Support Program
and ResNet.
Systems supports essential computing
systems and services including e-mail, web
services, the software and file space on the
campus-wide multi-platform Unity computing
environment, and other services such as security.
Computer
Operations maintains 24 x 7 x 365 network
monitoring and operational support for central
academic and administrative servers and mainframes.
Operations also support Optical Mark Reading
Services.
Communication
Technologies (ComTech)-Network Operations
& Development, in partnership with Resource
Management and Information Systems, designs
and operates the campus data network infrastructure.
Special
Projects works on campus, regional, and
national advanced technology research and
development initiatives.
In
partnership with Disability Services for Students,
ITD also supports NC State’s new Accessible
Technology Service.
ITD
supports eight Unity
computing labs, which are open to all NC
State students, faculty and staff and individual
colleges and departments support over 100 additional
computing
labs. These laboratories are currently equipped
with 1,836 Windows workstations, 406 Unix workstations,
283 MacIntosh workstations, and 320 Linux workstations,
in addition to printers (black-and-white and
color) and scanners.
The University has purchased license agreements
with software vendors and is currently able
to distribute over 500 software
products, to university-affiliated users.
Since 1996, we have maintained a site license
agreement with Environmental Systems Research
Institute (ESRI) which permits installation
of their GIS and related software on any university-owned
computer and currently allows faculty, staff
and students free access to ESRI
Virtual Campus online courses.
Geographic
Information Systems Education Laboratory
At the center of the precision farming education
effort at NC State University is the College
of Agriculture and Life Science Geographic Information
Systems (GIS) Education Laboratory. The GIS
Education Lab uniquely provides education and
extension training in computer-based information
technologies used for site-specific agricultural
and environmental management.
The
GIS Education lab is equipped with 21 Windows
2000 Professional workstations, 20 for student
use and one for instructor use. Each machine
has relevant software installed to facilitate
access to raw and processed spatial data and
thematic geographic information. Current configurations
include student access to ArcGIS (ArcInfo and
ArcView), AgInfo, and SGIS.
Design
Research & Extension Program
The
mission of the Design Research and Extension
Program is to link the resources of the College
of Design with the needs of communities throughout
the state and the world. GIS is one of many
tools used by a multi-disciplinary team to address
issues of community design, growth management,
land use planning, design visualization, sustainable
design, and watershed planning.
Facilities
include the Design Research and Service Laboratory,
which uses a Vision
Dome to display planning concepts in 3-D
animation. The VisionDome is an immersive, multi-user,
single projection Virtual Reality environment.
By combining computer generated 3-D models with
advanced projection equipment, the VisionDome
users are immersed in a 360 degree by 180 degree
virtual environment.
NCSU-Kenan
Natural Hazards Mapping Program
The
goal of this program is to apply state of the
art digital photogrammetric techniques to the
identification and mitigation of impacts from
natural hazards along shorelines. Current projects
include assessment of post hurricane storm damage,
analyses of long-term shoreline change, monitoring
impacts of coastal structures on inlets and
adjacent wildlife habitat, development of detailed
elevation models, and mapping of erosion hazard
areas. State and federal agencies use the products
of this research for coastal resource management,
hurricane preparedness, and hazard mitigation.
Social
Science Research and Computing Lab
The
Social Science Research and Computing Lab, located
in Winston Hall, primarily serves the Social
Science Departments (Sociology, Political Science,
Public Administration, Communication, and Social
Work) at NC State. The Lab includes two 25 seat
teaching classrooms which support 15-20 courses
each semester, plus a 15 seat open user area.
Hardware consists of Pentium 4 PCs with Microsoft
XP Pro OS with 1024MB RAM, 120GB hard drives,
DVD-ROM/CD/RW drives, and 750 zip drives. The
Lab provides various software including statistical
analysis packages, desktop publishing, GIS,
web design, word processing, data base management,
and spreadsheet packages. We provide b/w and
color printing at no additional charge to CHASS
students. Large format printing is also available
for students, staff and faculty for printing
maps and other large format items.
Center
for Earth Observation
The
Center for Earth Observation (CEO) is a multidisciplinary
research and training center within the College
of Natural Resources. The GIS
Research and Teaching Program, also housed
within the College of Natural Resources, is
attached to the Center for Earth Observation.
This program specializes in the application
of GIS technologies to natural resource management
problems.
CEO
computing facilities include a teaching laboratory
with over 20 Windows2000/XP workstations, a
Sun UNIX workstation, and excellent multimedia
instruction capabilities. In addition, the Center
maintains a high-end research laboratory with
10 powerful Windows2000/XP workstations, various
mass storage devices including 2-terabyte servers,
and a separate instructional technology development
facility. These systems are integrated into
the University's high-speed network of over
2,000 NT and UNIX seats. Facilities also include
numerous peripheral computer graphics devices
including digital cameras (still and video),
digitizers, scanners, air photo interpretation
and digital orthographic development equipment,
GPS units, large and small format color plotters,
and color printers.
The
Institute for Transportation Research and Education
The
Institute for Transportation Research and Education
(ITRE) is a university-based institute committed
to leadership in the study of surface transportation
issues through fostering analytical thinking,
integrating technology in education and research,
serving as a catalyst for problem solving, and
cultivating professionals and students dedicated
to excellence in transportation.
Founded
in 1989, the GIS Program at ITRE offers state
and local government and transportation agencies
a wide range of services including:
- Training
and Education
-
Technical Support
-
GIS Application Development
-
System Training and Development
-
GPS Data Collection and Mapping
-
Database Design, Conversion and Integration
-
GIS Assessment Studies
