EMC Donates CLARiion and Navisphere to Pisgah Astronomical Research Institute

EMC Corporation donated $70,000 in technology and services to the Pisgah Astronomical Research Institute (PARI) in North Carolina. With this technology, PARI will collect and enable access to celestial observation data for astronomers, researchers and students.

"Astronomical photographic plates are in danger of being lost or destroyed unless measures are taken to collect them and make their information available to scientists and researchers from around the world," said Dr. Michael Castelaz, Director of Astronomical Studies and Education at PARI. "EMC’s generous donation and ongoing support helps us collect astronomical data from researchers throughout North America and make these valuable resources available over the Internet to scientists and researchers from around the world."

PARI, a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) foundation established in North Carolina in 1998, is dedicated to furthering science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education and research for students, astronomers and the general public. Formalized in 2007, the EMC Information Heritage Initiative uses EMC products and services to help organizations collect humanity’s information heritage and make information readily accessible via the Internet for research and education purposes.

"While studies of celestial observations have often produced compelling, definitive data to assist the interpretation of astrophysical phenomena, few observatories today have the resources to categorize such information," said Lamar Owen, PARI’s Chief Information Officer. "EMC’s suite of information infrastructure technology provides us with the foundation we need today and into the future."

Through its Information Heritage Initiative, EMC, one of North Carolina’s largest high-tech employers, donated an EMC CLARiiON networked storage system and EMC Navisphere software to store and analyze more than 100 terabytes of research data. For instance, the EMC information infrastructure will support the Stellar Classification Online Public Exploration (SCOPE) program, which enables PARI and volunteers from the general public to classify astronomical research data.

"At EMC, we’re dedicated to advancing science, technology, engineering and math education in North Carolina and around the world," said Bob Hawkins, EMC’s Vice President, North Carolina Operations. "We’re pleased that the information infrastructure technology we donated will not only serve as the foundation for PARI’s datacenter, but will support the institute’s research and education initiatives."

EMC operates a manufacturing plant in Apex, a research and development facility in Research Triangle Park, and sales and services offices in Charlotte, Greensboro and Raleigh. EMC’s North Carolina operations play a crucial role in enabling EMC to deliver the world’s most comprehensive lineup of information infrastructure systems, software and services to customers around the world.