Students focusing on cloud research

Wednesday, February 01, 2012

From Plato's ancient academy to the modern halls of MIT and Yale, universities have always been the driving force behind innovations in any industry. Recently, the popularity of cloud computing has led students to seek funding for research on the incredible potential of the cloud.

Two Indiana University students have just been awarded $50,000 each by software provider Persistent Systems to develop scientific applications for cloud services. One student will seek to define the relationship between cloud computing and the scientific community, while the other will specifically work on a program that enables disease recognition via protein analysis.

However, students are not isolating their creativity to the scientific world. A team from Virginia Commonwealth University recently won an MBA Innovation Challenge by constructing a cloud-based application specifically designed for use by small businesses. The students competed with other schools from around the world for a $20,000 prize. The platform organizes mobile device management and streamlines communications in the cloud to ensure that a company experiences maximum operational efficiency.

"Our team was given an early look into the kinds of considerations that real businesses must address when deciding to incorporate cloud computing," said VCU student representative Jennifer Clinehens, according to the Stafford Sun.