About
The Research Computing and Data (RCD) division of Information Technology Services (ITS) at Tennessee Tech University was officially launched in 2025, but we’ve been supporting the university’s computational research and education initiatives for as much as 25 years.
Mike Renfro, PhD: Director
Mike has been at Tennessee Tech as a student, instructor, and/or staff member since 1989. Before joining ITS and deploying the first campus-wide high performance computing cluster in 2017, he spent 17 years as a research and development engineer in the Center for Manufacturing Research, developing expertise and training students in areas including mechanical design, finite element modeling, programming, data acquisition, mechanical and thermal properties testing, and research computing at smaller scales.
He has held leadership roles in multiple national RCD associations, including Campus Champions, Campus Research Computing Consortium, and is a co-founder of the Tennessee Higher Education RCD group. He is a certified instructor for The Carpentries, a global organization that teaches foundational coding and data science skills to researchers worldwide.
Sharon Colson: RCD Facilitator
Sharon started as a student RCD facilitator in 2023 and was promoted to RCD facilitator after graduating in 2025, where she has primary responsibility for onboarding and facilitation activities. She has a BS degree in Computer Science, with a concentration in data science and artificial intelligence, and dual minors in chemistry and humanities. In 2024, she was selected for an exclusive internship program with the NSF ACCESS STEP program, supporting the AtlanticWave Software-Defined Exchange project.
She is a member of Campus Champions, the Association for Computing Machinery, and is a certified instructor for The Carpentries, a global organization that teaches foundational coding and data science skills to researchers worldwide.
Trevor Clark: Student RCD Facilitator
Trevor started in April 2025 and is a third-year undergraduate majoring in Computer Science with a concentration in high performance computing. He has worked in IT support in the commercial sector, and has also assisted with high performance computing research experiences for Tennessee high school students as part of Tech's Governor's School for Emerging Technologies.