 The network operations center for the Abilene Network was established at IU under his direction, and the Pervasive Technology Laboratories were established with a $29.9 million grant from the Lilly Endowment in 1999.McRobbie was principal investigator of a project sponsored by the US National Science Foundation to connect US and Asian national research and education networks called TransPAC.The state-funded $5.3 million I-Light project connected all campuses of the IU system with fiber optic communications (further expanded in 2010).