High Speed Connection Puts UTC in Fast Forward

When the last link of a high speed network connection from the Oak Ridge National Laboratory went live last week, officials from UTC, the City of Chattanooga and Hamilton County gathered at the University to celebrate the milestone.

"This is a great day for us. This connection leads to places we dare not dream," according to UTC Chancellor Bill Stacy.

UTC will link with Oak Ridge National Laboratory 200,000 times faster than the average Internet dialup. How fast is that? In just six seconds, the entire film "Gone With The Wind" could be downloaded.

"It places UT Chattanooga among an elite few higher education institutions with computational power necessary to perform 21st century high tech research. We are so grateful for this partnership and for the opportunity to foster a new level of technological education, applied research, and economic development in the Chattanooga region," Stacy said.

Over time it is hoped there will be multiple applications for use of the connection. Two ways it will be used: enhanced research opportunities for a new UTC computational engineering and design team, and by the UTC College of Business Administration to analyze the stock market.

According to Hamilton County Executive Claude Ramsey, the connection will make the Chattanooga area a better place to live.

"This connection will allow citizens to get a better education and provide more job opportunities," Ramsey said.