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DENVER, Colo. – Attention North Carolina colleges, universities and techies.

Internet2 and Innova Inc. will debut a uniquely equipped University Electric Vehicle (UEV) during the Internet2 Global Summit this week in Denver where more than 800 advanced technology leaders will gather from universities, industry and research organizations all over the world.

Innova’s all-electric micro vehicle, the Innova Dash, represents a new type of vehicle providing an opportunity for campuses nationwide to inspire carbon footprint reduction, foster research involving sensor data, and broaden understanding of the emerging “Internet of Things” phenomenon.

The vehicle is a variation on European micro-car technology. With a maximum speed of 35 mph and an estimated 100-mile range, the Dash plugs into any standard garage 240-volt outlet at cost less that 25 cents a day to operate.

Internet2 Chief Technology Officer and Internet Hall of Famer Steve Wolff said this research and demonstration project is a creative way to encourage nationwide interest in sustainability research and data collection from non-traditional devices as part of the growing “Internet of Things” term that describes objects independently communicating with each other.

“Our goals are for campuses to use this electric vehicle to enhance sustainability research involving data collection and data transfer across campus networks, and to adopt advanced identity management technologies.” said Wolff. “At the same time, the vehicles will demonstrate a low-carbon-footprint campus transportation alternative.”

The UEV will be available for general use on campus and equipped with a tablet-sized personal computer controlling the electronics and advanced technologies. The UEVs will connect automatically to the campus’s Wi-Fi network via an installed 802.11x certificate and eduroam technology. This enables the vehicle to communicate operational data to the campus’s computer network, where the data can support relevant research projects.

Roman Kuropas, Innova chief executive officer and UEV founder said he is excited about discovering new applications to leverage the vehicle, the Internet2 Network, and services to benefit campuses nationwide.

“The project is part of Innova’s goal of engaging with researchers in all fields across higher education,” said Kuropas. “University involvement gives campus participants an ideal dense use environment in a contained space.

Via a mobile application, users will know if a vehicle is available, where it is and where it will be. UEV users will be able to use their campus identification and password credentials provided by Internet2’s InCommon service to log in, reserve, activate vehicle use and provide comments on the vehicle’s performance and utility. The seamless log in and identity applications combined with the high-capacity 100G Internet2 Network will allow researchers to collect, transfer, store and analyze sensor data from the vehicle and provide a unique opportunity to greatly understand the “Internet of Things” concept.

Internet2 operates the nation’s largest and fastest, coast-to-coast research and education network serving more than 93,000 community anchor institutions, 250 U.S. universities, 70 government agencies, 38 regional and state education networks, 80 leading corporations and more than 65 national research and education networking partners representing more than 100 countries.

At the project’s conclusion, all aggregated data will become anonymous and publicly available to interested researchers. Any U.S. college and university may obtain application information online at Internet2’s website.