Glen Galvin is the Manager of Information Technology at the VRAC Research Center at Iowa State University. Glen graduated from Iowa State in 1995 with a degree in Computer Science. After graduation, he worked for a small medical software support company that rapidly grew and went public in 1989 (NASDAQ: MMGR). Glen returned to Iowa State University in 1999 to work at the Iowa Center for Emerging Manufacturing Technologies (ICEMT), which later became the Virtual Reality Applications Center (VRAC) in 2000, and is now known as the VRAC Research Center.
VRAC is a multi-disciplinary research center that collaborates with faculty from all corners of the Iowa State University campus. The center is home to several world-class research facilities, including their flagship lab, the C6. The C6 is a 10-foot cube with over 200 million pixels being drawn on all six sides in real-time using a 48-node graphics cluster and 96 NVIDIA Quadro graphic cards. This setup allows for wireless tracking of the user(s) and renders scenes from their head perspective, providing an immersive virtual reality experience.
In addition to its cutting-edge research facilities, VRAC is also home to the Human Computer Interaction (HCI) Graduate Program, the largest interdisciplinary graduate program at Iowa State University. This program brings together students and faculty from various disciplines to explore the interactions between humans and computers, fostering innovation and collaboration.
Certifications
Glen holds professional certifications and qualifications. He is a certified SGI Origin/Onyx2 technician, a Certified Redhat Systems Administrator (RHSA), and a Certified Redhat Engineer (RHCE).
Outside of work
Outside of work, Glen is the proud father of two college-aged children. He has been actively involved in his community, helping coach Upward Football and Ames Little League baseball. Glen has served on the boards for Ames Youth Sports and the Professional and Scientific Council at Iowa State University.
In his free time, Glen enjoys procuring, fixing, restoring, and upcycling vintage items for sale in his and his wife’s side hustle shops. “If you’re going to have a hobby, you might as well have one that makes you money,” Glen often says. He also enjoys spending time with his dogs, taking them for walks, and occasionally sneaking them into the office for the students to spoil. Additionally, you will often find Glen driving back to his family farm to help throughout the year, especially during harvest time.