Council on Academic Computing

October 22, 2009

Meeting Summary

Council Charge

James V. Maher, the University’s Provost, delivered the Council’s charge.  He emphasized the role of the Simulation and Modeling Center in the University’s academic computing activities.  The Provost asked Council members to:

  • work with the co-directors and staff of the Simulation and Modeling Center to stimulate greater faculty participation in the center’s activities
  • work with the Simulation and Modeling Center, academic departments, and interdisciplinary teams to support the academic computing seminar series

The Provost also asked Council members to:

  • develop an educational program (and possibly include seed funding), which encourages faculty members in the humanities and social sciences to use the University’s high performance computing resources
  • work with CSSD as it explores trends in academic computing services and how they can be implemented at the University

High Performance Computing Upgrade

The University recently applied for an NSF grant, which would enable it to upgrade its high-performance computing environment.  The University proposed installing dense-wave multiplexing technology to upgrade the speed and capacity of the University’s data communications backbone.  The project focuses upon links between the Network Operations Center (NOC), located in RIDC Park, and computing intensive units at the Pittsburgh campus.

Miscellaneous

Council members discussed Science 2009 (which was held on Thursday and Friday, October 15 and 16), and potential topics for the SAM seminar series.