Supercollaboration Yields Big Computing Cycles
Princeton University (NJ) researchers and the university’s Office of Information Technology are excited about the arrival of their new Blue Gene supercomputer from IBM.
“We will now have advanced resources for researchers that need them to process data for highly complex operations,” says Engineering School Dean Maria Klawe.
But it’s not just the engineering school that will benefit from the acquisition. A cross-campus consortium of scientists, researchers, and technicians pooled resources for the project, code-named “Orangena.”
CIO Betty Leydon comments on the collaboration: “Having OIT, the Princeton Institute for Computational Science and Engineering, the School of Engineering and Applied Science, and several individual faculty members all contribute to the cost shows that we all recognize the value of working together to build the best possible IT infrastructure to support research at Princeton.” The system is poised to tackle complex computations in areas such as astrophysics, engineering, chemistry, and plasma physics after a ribbon-cutting ceremony on November 22.
Pictured are Curt Hillegas, Manager of Computational Science and Engineering Support in the Academic Services Department of Princeton’s Office of Information Technology (at left), with Frank Ingram of IBM Blue Gene Serviceability Development.
Photo courtesy John Jameson, Princeton University 2005
