UNC building topped: Red Hat software company commits to campus
BYLINE: Ben McNeely, Independent Tribune, Concord, N.C.
Apr. 19--KANNAPOLIS -- Red Hat has partnered with the North Carolina Research Campus.
The announcement came at the topping off ceremony for the UNC Nutrition Research Institute building and groundbreaking ceremony for the N.C. State lab buildings at the campus Wednesday.
Campus developer Castle & Cooke said the Raleigh-based software company will join the research campus as a consultant and partner on information-sharing on the campus.
Tom Rabon, executive vice president for corporate affairs, said Red Hat approached Castle & Cooke about a year ago to talk about having a presence on the campus.
"We are constantly looking for opportunities to grow our business in the state," Rabon said.
Red Hat develops software products based on the open-source operating system Linux. Users can change the computer code in open-source software to meet specific needs.
Joanne Rohde, Red Hat's executive vice president of worldwide operations, said the company met with university researchers who will locate at the campus before the announcement to determine what their needs will be.
"To a person, they all had concerns about the difficulties of sharing information," Rohde said.
Red Hat will have an office in the Core Research Laboratory, but Rohde said she didn't know how many people would be there.
She also said Red Hat would be advising Castle & Cooke on information-sharing systems for the laboratory buildings.
"Red Hat wants to make sure that big problems get solved," Rohde said.
Dr. Steven Zeisel, director of the UNC Nutrition Research Institute, said Red Hat is "one of the leaders in the world for open-source technology."
"To have so many scientists on the campus, the question is how do we communicate with each other," Zeisel said. "By adding Red Hat, this will attract researchers to the campus. It should be great."
Red Hat operates on open-source principles: Where collaboration and sharing information is a part of problem-solving.
"We want to help bring open-source principles to clinical research and the work that will be done here at the campus," Rohde said.
Praise for Murdock, legislature
State education leaders had praise for billionaire David Murdock and leaders in the General Assembly for supporting the research campus.
At the topping-off and groundbreaking ceremony, UNC President Erskine Bowles said N.C. Senate Pro Tempore Marc Basnight has led the charge for economic development in the state.
"He knows that economic development is the key to the future," Bowles said. "He knows we have to invest in education."
Bowles said he was "amazed" at the speed with which the campus is being built.
"Only David Murdock can make that happen," Bowles said.
Murdock announced the $1.5 billion research campus in September 2005 as a public-private collaboration with the UNC system, Duke University, Kannapolis and Cabarrus County.
Murdock said when he first talked to researchers, he said he "made the mistake of saying, 'Any piece of equipment you need, tell me and I'll buy it.' "
"To date, I have spent $250 million of my own money," Murdock said. "I've not borrowed 1 cent, but I'm going to have do it pretty quick."
State money to fund the university labs is going through the budget process at the General Assembly, Bowles said.
The UNC system has requested $29 million in recurring and non-recurring funds to equip the lab buildings and hire faculty members.
"It's a five-step dance and we are on step two," Bowles said.
--Contact Ben McNeely: 704-789-9131.
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