Merit Network

5 Facts about Merit Network: 🕛 First connection: 12:20 a.m., Dec. 14, 1971 💰 Budget to build it: $800,000 👻 "Which Host?" → "Witch Ghost" every Halloween 📈 NSFNET traffic grew nearly 1,000x 🌍 Internet: 3 countries to 93 60 years of connecting Michigan. #MeritNetwork

In 1987, Merit & partners won the NSF contract to manage the NSFNET — the catalyst for the modern internet. Behind it: Aupperle, Braun, Rubens, Husak, Hares, Katz, Gerich, Morgan, Cheng & many more. The internet didn't build itself. 🖥️ #ThrowbackThursday #MeritNetwork

#MMC2026 is in the books. 📖 Two days. Five keynotes. Hundreds of conversations. None of it happens without our speakers, sponsors, Members, partners, and the Merit team working behind the scenes. Thank you all. See you next year. 💙

#MMC26 is wrapped at the Dearborn Inn — and today delivered. Brittany Affolter-Caine on collaborative innovation. Princess Castleberry closing with The Truth Is in the Trigger™. Plus a full day of breakouts on AI, fiber, cybersecurity, and more. #Merit60 #MeritNetwork

MMC 2026 is live at the Dearborn Inn — two days of Internet, Innovation, and Impact. Today: Merit's ELT on 60 years of internet history, Ned Staebler on universities as economic engines, and a Member panel on real-world impact across Michigan. Thank you to our sponsors #MMC2026

A quiet success. We'll take it. Doug Dawson of CCG Consulting featured Merit in POTs and PANs for our 60th — from three mainframes in 1971 to 1M K-12 students today. Sixty years of showing up. We're just getting started. 📖 hubs.la/Q04fvdjl0 #Merit60

Behind every lecture streamed and every research breakthrough shared — there's a network making it possible. Merit members aren't just connected. They're part of something bigger. 💙 hubs.la/Q04f1m_Y0 #MeritMonday #Michigan #EdTech #HigherEd #Research

Today is the last day to register for this year’s MMC! Don't miss out on our exciting lineup and networking opportunities! Register now: hubs.la/Q04d-M7b0 Details: 🗓️ 5/12–5/13, 2026 📍 Dearborn Inn #InternetInnovationImpact #60YearsofMerit #Merit60 #MMC26 #MeritNetwork

Free cybersecurity intel? It exists. 🔒 📌 CISA Advisories → hubs.la/Q04dLDQL0 📌 MS-ISAC → hubs.la/Q04dLBY20 📌 SANS ISC (daily podcast) → hubs.la/Q04dLBW50 Stay informed. Stay protected. #WatchOutWednesday #CyberSecurity #InfoSec

Merit CEO Roger Blake joins Jean Hardy as a keynote speaker at the 2026 Small Town & Rural Development Conference, June 1–3 at Crystal Mountain Resort — exploring what rural leaders need to know about data centers. 🔗 hubs.la/Q04d5hBm0 #RuralMichigan #DataCenters

Register for MMC before April 30! Here are three great reasons to join us at the Dearborn Inn this May: 1️⃣ Inspiring Keynotes 2️⃣ Expert-Led Sessions 3️⃣ Industry Connections Register now: hubs.la/Q04ddP4S0 🗓️ 5/12–5/13, 2026 📍 Dearborn Inn #MMC26 #Merit60 #MeritNetwork

The internet has a footprint. Now we know ours. 👣🌎 @UMich master's students built a first-of-its-kind GHG inventory of Merit's fiber network and data centers — from construction to disposal. As Michigan's grid decarbonizes, our emissions drop. 🔗 hubs.la/Q04cFp590

@CityofDetroit @waynestate

Proud to be recognized by the Detroit Housing Commission alongside DigitalC for bringing free internet + digital education to Detroit residents. This is what community partnership looks like. 🏘️ #Connect313 #ProjectCanopy #MichiganMoonshot hubs.la/Q04cKWNl0

Chips keeping satellites alive can't fail. @michiganstateu just opened a facility to make sure they don't. FRIB's K500 tests microelectronics against decades of cosmic radiation — in minutes. Proud to connect these researchers. 🛰️ 🔗 hubs.la/Q04c0MvW0 #TechThursday #FRIB

Register for MMC before April 30th! Ned Staebler, CEO of TechTown and VP for Economic Development at @waynestate, will deliver the midday keyote on 5/12! hubs.la/Q04bZW0s0 🗓️ 5/12-5/13, 2026 📍 Dearborn Inn #60YearsofMerit #Merit60 #MMC26 #MeritNetwork

Congrats to Merit governing member @GVSU on earning a 2026 CIO 100 Award! 🏆 Their futurEDlab developed ProfAI — an AI tool turning hour-long lectures into engaging 5–7 min segments. Innovation in action. #MeritNetwork #HigherEd @CIOonline

📱#WatchOutWednesday: AI voice and video deepfakes are harder to spot than ever — and cybercriminals know it. Watch for robotic cadence, unnatural blinking, or blurry ears. When in doubt: slow down, hang up, verify. #CyberSecurity #AIAwareness

Happy #WorldHealthDay 🌍 Through the FCC's Rural Health Care program, Merit connects 29 health care sites across Michigan, including members of the E-Link Consortium. #RuralHealthCare #CommunityConnectivity #MeritNetwork #TechnologyAccess

Merit is part of the Quilt — a nationwide community of research and education networks connecting students, researchers, and institutions from coast to coast. Learn more at hubs.la/Q049txG20 🔗 #ResearchAndEducation #RENsRock #ConnectedLearning #StrongerTogether