[vtkusers] Thank you! VTK Maintenance Grant

[Andrew Maclean]

This is an outstanding achievement. The partnering subcontractors, in this
era of relatively tight funding, are showing a real vision and confidence
in VTK.

Congratulations to them and to Kitware (especially Will, Stephen, Katie and
Berk).

This will benefit everybody involved with VTK either as a user or as a
developer.

Direct funding for VTK ... what an achievement! Once again congratulations
to all involved.

Regards
   Andrew


> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> From: Will Schroeder <will.schroeder at kitware.com>
> To: vtk-developers <vtk-developers at vtk.org>, vtkusers <vtkusers at vtk.org>
> Cc: Katie Osterdahl <katie.osterdahl at kitware.com>, "Stephen R. Aylward" <
> Stephen.Aylward at kitware.com>, Berk Geveci <berk.geveci at kitware.com>
> Date: Wed, 17 Apr 2013 18:09:09 -0400
> Subject: [vtk-developers] Thank you! VTK Maintenance Grant
> I am delighted to inform the VTK community that Kitware and five
> partnering subcontractors (Brigham & Womens, Stanford, Johns Hopkins,
> University of North Carolina, and University of Houston) received a
> four-year NIH grant focused on improving and maintaining VTK with the aim
> of accelerating innovation in health care. This is a huge accomplishment,
> not only because these R01 maintenance grants are extraordinarily
> competitive (especially in these fiscally challenging times), but because
> it's the first time in its nearly 20 year history that VTK has had direct
> funding to support it. Needless to say we are extremely excited and have
> great plans for the coming years.
>
> But before I go any further I would like to express my profound gratitude
> to the VTK community. While Stephen Aylward drove this proposal with the
> help of Katie Osterdahl our most excellent  proposal guru, and Berk
> provided much of the vision, in the end I believe the key differentiator
> was the approximately 50 letters of support that we received from the
> community that made the difference. These letters came from around the
> world, ranging from formal academic style to simple statement of support
> for the great technology that VTK provides. This outpouring of support
> really meant a lot to me and the proposal team, and delivered us a winning
> bid. Thank you.
>
> The plan over the coming years is to focus on three primary aims: 1)
> rendering and interaction; 2) community support; and 3) targeted outreach
> to the medical community. As many of you know, VTK is getting a little old
> in the tooth with its current rendering architecture, and there have been
> many developments in platforms (web, mobile) and interaction (multi-touch
> and alternative interaction devices). So we are going to take VTK to the
> next level to support these areas. We also realize that there is a lot of
> cruft in the code, documentation, and software processes that can stand
> improvement, which we will address from day one. And finally, NIH has
> generously funded us to deliver on the promise that we made, namely to
> build better software tools with the ultimate goal of improving health care
> for millions of individuals. We will work with our academic research
> partners to make sure that we deliver on this promise.
>
> And for you folks who aren't in the medical field, please don't feel left
> out since two of the three aims will benefit you too. That's the great
> thing about open source and the folks that nurture these systems, we work
> really hard to integrate efforts from across the community to benefit the
> broader developer and use base.
>
> In the coming weeks we will communicate further details about our approach
> and timeline, and begin to more energetically engage the community. We will
> be seeking your feedback, guidance and help moving VTK forward. So while
> the award is relatively large (measured in millions of dollars) it is not
> nearly enough to realize our ultimate goal of world domination. We need the
> help of the community to take us there, and realize the full potential of
> our technology.
>
> So thanks again, and we look forward to working with you.
> W
>
> --
> William J. Schroeder, PhD
> Kitware, Inc.
> 28 Corporate Drive
> Clifton Park, NY 12065
> will.schroeder at kitware.com
> http://www.kitware.com
> (518) 881-4902
>
>
> --
___________________________________________
Andrew J. P. Maclean

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