This project, acquiring a high-performance PC cluster, will enable computationally aggressive techniques to be applied in a variety of disciplines, with a focus on environmental disciplines that relate to the environment and economy of south Texas. This cluster is designed to support the following projects: Integrated windmill and utility system simulation, Modeling/simulation of linked and braided electroactive polymers, Monte Carlo and molecular dynamics simulations of gas hydrates, Modeling subsurface microbial competition, Modeling coupled transport of colloids and contaminants, and their biological effects in river systems, Decision support tools to estimate groundwater availability, Modeling flow and transport of contaminants, GIS-based flood and storm surge simulation and damage assessment, Air quality forecasting, Instrument and measurement research on estimate precision using ratio indicator, and Using simulation-based genetic algorithms for dynamic signal control optimization in networks with stochastic route choice and time-variant demand. These applications and the general computational methods to be employed have been planned. The system design includes a gigabit-ethernet-based interconnect and 128 processors with 2 GBytes of local memory, connected to a 1.2 TByte storage-area network. Management will include an Advisory Board and a Management Board. TAMUK is providing power/environmental support and system administrator personnel.
