Mr. Jack J Suess

Mr. Jack J Suess

College of Engineering and Information Technology

He/Him/His/Himself

About

As a first-generation student and UMBC alumnus (80’,94’) I care deeply about how technology can advance the efforts of our UMBC community to create, think, and engage with one another. As the VP of Information Technology & CIO, I get to lead a talented group of professionals and student employees also seeking to support those efforts through their technology skills.

My UMBC work has focused on efforts to adapt technology, whether that is advanced networking, cloud computing, or new Internet protocols to enable and support efforts in their teaching and learning, research, or campus services.

Nationally, I’m very involved in our three major information technology organizations: Internet2, EDUCAUSE, and IMSglobal using technology to advance the mission of higher education.

Research interests

My research interests have focused of three main areas.

The first was the implementation of advanced network technologies in higher education. I was the PI for two different NSF grants that upgraded our campus network to interconnect with other research universities. The most recent effort focused on developing our UMBC cyber-infrastructure plan.

The second area I have spent a great deal of time in was cybersecurity, especially the development of best practices that can support the culture and needs of higher education. This work was done mostly through work with EDUCAUSE and REN-ISAC. My efforts here were focused on developing security architecture plans and creating a community of practice amongst those in the security profession.

Finally, the last area of interest was identity management and developing systems and practices to support large scale community adoption. I was fortunate enough to serve on the council attempting to implement the 2013 National Strategy for Trusted Identity in Cyberspace (NSTIC).

For more information here is my web page.

Teaching interests

My teaching interests were focused on low level courses and for several years I taught Assembly language programming across several hardware architectures. I have also developed and taught the Unix System Administration course in Information Systems, and I remain interested in DevOps and cloud computing.

Finally, one of my great privileges was getting to co-instruct in a sociology course on cyberspace and society where we examined the human implications of technology and its impact on society.

Education

  • MS, Information Systems Operations Analysis — University of Maryland, Baltimore County (1994)
  • BA, Math — University of Maryland, Baltimore County (1981)

Publications

Grants and Contracts

  • CC*IIE Networking Infrastructure: Enabling Big Computing and Data Intensive Cyberinfrastructure (EBCDIC) 2014 NSF · Sponsored Research · Funded
  • Implementing Federated Virtual Desktops 2011 Dell · MOU · Funded
  • Global Portal for Advancing Women in IT 2006 NSF · Sponsored Research · Funded
  • Network Infrastructure to support Minority Achievement in STEM. 2001 NIH · Grant · Funded
  • Broadening IT Skills in College Students 2000 Maryland Higher Education Commission · Grant · Funded
  • UMBC vBNS Implementation 1997 NSF · Sponsored Research · Funded Suess (Principal), John J Suess