IMR: Acquisition of a SGI Origin350 for Nano/Bio-Technology Computational Research and Student Training

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Support is requested for acquiring a SGI Origin350 with 16 R16,000 processors running at 800MHz, 16GB memory, and 4 x 73GB of disk space. This equipment will enhance the existing computational facilities and complement the ongoing experimental efforts in the Institute for Micromanufacturing (IfM) and the College of Engineering & Science at Louisiana Tech University by providing high quality computational research in nano- and biotechnology on three fundamental fronts: small molecules, polymers (biopolymers are implicit), and cells. The proposed instrument will support both faculty and students working at several applied branches of science and technology, while building upon the existing computational resources of Louisiana Tech. The acquisition of the supercomputer will ultimately benefit two educational institutions in an EPSCoR state. Louisiana Tech University, which has a significantly high percentage of African-American students for a non-HBCU institution (~15% of enrollment), and Grambling State University (GSU), a HBCU institution dedicated to undergraduate education with a strong commitment to undergraduate research in north Louisiana. At present, one faculty member holds a joint faculty appointment position (JFAP) between these two Universities and two more JFAPs are expected to be filled in 2004. These faculty members are expected to be the "bridge-for-conducting-research" between these two institutions. The requested equipment will be also made available for research activities of GSU undergraduates. Consequently, this project will have a significant impact on underrepresented groups in engineering and science.Support is requested for acquiring a supercomputer (SGI Origin350) that will enhance the existing computational facilities at Louisiana Tech University and complement the ongoing experimental efforts in the College of Engineering & Science by providing high quality computational research in several fundamental and currently applied branches of science, such as chemistry, physics, and nano/bio-technology.Undergraduate and graduate students involved in research projects are expected to gain knowledge and experience with this state-of-the-art computational facility and the readily available modeling software. The acquisition of the supercomputer will ultimately benefit two educational institutions in an EPSCoR state. Louisiana Tech University, which has a significantly high percentage of African-American students for a non-HBCU institution (~15% of enrollment), and Grambling State University (GSU), a HBCU institution dedicated to undergraduate education with a strong commitment to undergraduate research in north Louisiana. At present, one faculty member holds a joint faculty appointment position (JFAP) between these two Universities and two more JFAPs are expected to be filled in 2004. These faculty members are expected to be the "bridge-for-conducting-research" between these two institutions. The requested equipment will be also made available for research activities of GSU undergraduates. Consequently, this project will have a significant impact on underrepresented groups in engineering and science.