A new research and development partnership between UBC and Kelowna-based Vineyard Networks will help advance the state of the art in network traffic management technology.
Project engineers at Vineyard Networks, which provides network monitoring and management solutions to small- and medium-sized companies around the world, and computer science researchers at UBC’s Okanagan campus will be developing new methods of database storage and complex queries that enable flow and network data monitoring and reporting in large, high-performance network environments.
“This opportunity to work closely with the University of British Columbia is very exciting for us,” says Vineyard Networks CEO Jason Richards. “The talent, expertise, and research facilities at UBC are some of the finest in North America and we’re very pleased to be working with the university on such important research.”
Ramon Lawrence, assistant professor and principal investigator whose research area is database systems, explains that the aim of the project is to investigate methods of optimizing data storage and retrieval for organizations providing network monitoring services. The expense of data processing represents a significant business cost. Improving an organization’s data warehousing performance allows for more efficient processing, larger networks, and reduces hardware costs.
Andrew Klimek, associate director of the University-Industry Liaison Office at UBC’s Okanagan campus, says the research is funded in part by an Engage Program award of $24,000 to Dr Ramon Lawrence from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC). The Engage Program is intended to develop new relationships between a company and academic researchers.
“With support from NSERC’s Engage Program, it was possible to engage UBC Okanagan Computer Science researchers, including undergraduate and graduate students, in this collaborative project,” Klimek notes. “The result is an opportunity to advance current technology and, ultimately, provide greater competitive advantages for our partner.”
UBC research advances academic knowledge and creates innovation in technologies, which Klimek says can benefit an industry and society at large.
“This project illustrates the value that such a collaboration can create,” he says. “In addition to the job creation opportunities it presents, the partnership is a great example of entrepreneurial engagements between UBC and industrial partners in the Okanagan region.”
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