University students, teachers and nonprofit organizations are encouraged to apply to receive donated Sun Microsystems servers and related equipment as part of Acclinet Corp.’s technology grant program.

Acclinet, a New Hampshire-based independent reseller of servers, workstations and related equipment, will give donated equipment to qualifying entrants who apply using Acclinet’s Web site. The technology grants are only available to people and organizations not seeking profit.

Applicants will be required to provide details about what kind of equipment they’re seeking and how they would use it. Acclinet plans to announce the first technology grant recipient early this fall.

Acclinet is actively raising awareness about the technology grant program after struggling to find recipients in the past. “Believe it or not, it’s hard giving equipment away,” said Acclinet Vice President William Sweeney. The recipients will be picked by a committee that will review all the applicants. The technology grant program focuses on two groups.

The first group is university students and teachers who are learning or teaching UNIX and open-source technologies. “We are committed to furthering the UNIX and open-source communities through the programs we create and support,” Sweeney said. “One of our core focuses is the educational community, universities and their student populations who teach, learn and promote both the UNIX and open-source communities.”

The second qualifying group is nonprofit organizations dedicated to bettering the lives of children. Sweeney said Acclinet recognizes that many nonprofit organizations are struggling during the current economy. Organizations that rely on government funding and donations to stay afloat, he said, are understandably having to hold off on obtaining technology that would help them contribute to the greater good.

“With nonprofit organizations struggling to obtain needed funding in a challenging economic environment, Acclinet is committing substantial hardware and support resources to aid those organizations in furthering their projects and missions,” Sweeney said. “Giving back to the community is something we have been committed to since our inception.”

Available equipment in the donation pool includes entry-level Sun servers and Sun workstations such as Sun V210, Sun V240, Sun V440, Sun SB1500, Sun Blade 1500, Sun Blade 2000, Sun Blade 2500 and Sun Ultra 40, Sun Ultra 45 as well as enterprise-class solutions to qualifying organizations that include Sun Fire servers from E4800 to E15K.

Acclinet already has a history of donating computer equipment to organizations.

Acclinet recently donated computer equipment to the Southwest Health Technology Foundation’s Neurotherapy Center of Houston. The brain fitness clinic is using the equipment to help provide EEG biofeedback services – used to treat cognitive, emotional and behavioral disorders through self-regulation of brainwaves – to clients for affordable prices. Acclinet also donated equipment to Baylor College of Medicine’s Children’s Nutrition Center in Houston, Texas and to the public school system on Grand Turk Island, British West Indies.

Anyone interested in applying for the technology grants can learn more by visiting www.acclinet.com, calling (603) 529-4220 or mailing requests to Acclinet Corp., 425 South Stark Highway, Weare, NH 03281.