Project Proposed: This project, acquiring a Cray XT5 and adequate storage, upgrading the network of a computer cluster, and integrating these as one High Performance Computing (HPC) instrument, supports a team of interdisciplinary researchers from two schools and seven departments via the new Institute for Massively Parallel Applications and Computing Technologies (IMPACT). New programming models and processor technologies in understanding high-performance computing systems productivity, as well as the impact of new technologies on science will be investigated. Programming models include UPC, Co-Array FORTRAN, X10, and Parallel Matlab. Application requirements will drive the UPC-10 work and application specific PGAS compiler optimizations. Investigating new processor technologies will be pursued jointly with the NSF Industry/University Cooperative CHREC center. In computational fluid dynamics (CFD), the instrument will help in the design of micro-aerial vehicles inspired by the dynamics of insect flight (previous work assumed rigid wings). The HPC instrument will help carry out detailed modeling to understand insect wing?s deformation. The instrument will also be used in employing CFD techniques to analyze swimming strokes for U.S. national teams using a novel immersed boundary method. Current simulations are carried out at low Reynolds numbers due to lack of HPC resources. In nuclear physics, the instrument will help unravel the structure of matter at its deepest level as governed by Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD). The latter is very difficult to solve without massively parallel computations on a discrete space-time lattice with millions of degrees of freedom. The instrument will help expedite the linking of experimental and theoretical nuclear physics studies in fundamental nuclear reactions and account for the most recent experimental results in photo and electro-production of mesons and hyperons. Helping the remote sensing group, it will also contribute to provide more accurate models of the soil, ground surface and vegetation that can relate the sensor responses to the bio-physical variables on the ground.
Broader Impacts: This acquisition enables producing a new generation of students and postdoctoral fellows who can face the current changes in computing technology. The instrument will allow assigning realistic computational problems that can integrate research and teaching promoting learning through discovery. Initiatives include an extensive outreach program. Open house events are planned and will include community colleges, high school and middle school students, and K-12 teachers to increase interest in science and technology. A concrete plan is devised to include women and minority to receive training, use the instrument, and engage in research collaboration with the faculty. The plan focuses on HBCU institutions in the area, and is open to women and minorities. Investigations will result in codes and data that will be shared with the community using a public license such as GNU/GPL. The website will provide access to papers, presentations, and freely distributed relevant software; conferences and workshops will also be organized. Furthermore, a graduate certificate in interdisciplinary HPC will be issued and more faculty in the HPC area will be hired.
