CC* Compute: Accelerating Advances in Science and Engineering at The University of Alabama Through HPC Infrastructure

该项目加强了阿拉巴马大学(UA)的计算基础设施，以支持研究各种有趣问题所需的计算科学和工程的增加，包括：可靠的计算化学预测、工程材料的性质、用于图像分析和信号处理的应用数学、复杂细胞系统的生物信息学以及水文模拟。新的高性能计算(HPC)基础设施消除了本地UA资源中的瓶颈，这些瓶颈是由越来越多的用户和更现实问题的越来越大的计算解决方案造成的。这一基础设施使UA研究人员能够取得以前的UA HPC机器无法实现的科学和工程进步。为了提供更广泛的影响，该基础设施还提供给地区高等教育机构，包括HBCU和缺乏足够HPC接入的私立机构，并通过开放科学网格提供给全国类似的机构。该项目通过(1)计算能力翻一番，(2)增加两个大内存节点用于大规模数据分析和挖掘，(3)增加10个GPU用于大规模数据并行计算，(4)显著增加存储节点带宽，以及(5)从“共管”模式转变为通用、共享模式，从而增强了UA HPC系统。这一基础设施为UA和其他地区和国家机构(包括HBCU和私立机构)的学生、教职员工和教职员工提供了引人注目的新研究和教育机会。就更广泛的影响而言，该基础设施允许本科生进行最先进的计算研究，从而吸引更多不同的STEM参与者。该基础设施提供了一个平台，用于在尖端HPC技术方面教育下一代计算和计算机科学家。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This project augments the University of Alabama’s (UA) computing infrastructure to support the increase in computational science and engineering needed to study diverse, interesting problems including: reliable computational chemistry predictions, properties of engineered materials, applied mathematics for image analysis and signal processing, bioinformatics of complex cellular systems, and hydrological simulations. The new high-performance computing (HPC) infrastructure removes bottlenecks in local UA resources caused by an increasing number of users and increasingly larger computational solutions to more realistic problems. This infrastructure enables UA researchers to make scientific and engineering advances not possible with previous UA HPC machines. To provide broader impacts, the infrastructure is also available to regional institutions of higher education, including HBCUs and private institutions who lack adequate HPC access, and to similar institutions across the nation through the Open Science Grid.This project augments the UA HPC system by (1) doubling computing capacity, (2) adding two large-memory nodes for large-scale data analysis and mining, (3) adding ten GPUs for massively data-parallel computations, (4) significantly increasing storage node bandwidth, and (5) shifting from a “condo” model to a general use, shared model. This infrastructure provides compelling new research and educational opportunities for students, staff, and faculty at UA and other regional and national institutions (including HBCUs and private institutions). In terms of broader impacts, the infrastructure allows undergraduate students to perform state-of-the-art computational research, thereby attracting more diverse STEM participants. The infrastructure provides a platform for educating the next generation of computational and computer scientists in cutting-edge HPC techniques.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.