The Center for Energy Efficient Systems will focus on optimizing energy utilization in electronic systems. SUNY at Binghamton, the University of Illinois, the University of Texas at Arlington and Georgia Tech are collaborating to establish the proposed center, with SUNY at Binghamton as the lead institution
The proposed center will focus on the development of systematic methodologies for operating electronic systems, including data centers, as dynamic self sensing and regulating systems that are predictive and verified in real time. Algorithms will be developed to control cooling resources and to assist expert system schedulers to schedule and/or migrate workload to achieve optimal energy consumption. Thermal management resources will also be allocated dynamically in response to system needs. Problem-oriented research related to Thermal Management and Protocols, Software Systems, Control Systems, and Implementation, will be addressed during the Center's first five year program.
The proposed center will enable a significant reduction in energy consumption in electronic systems, including data centers, thereby potentially reducing electrical power consumption across the nation. This will, in turn, reduce the nations consumption of carbon-based fuels and related emissions. The center will attract a diverse group of students at the undergraduate and graduate levels, by providing industrially-relevant training required by graduates entering the workforce. The center intends to leverage existing programming on its campuses to engage K-12 students in conversation on energy conservation, and is committed to attracting talented and motivated students from all groups.
Binghamton University, State University of New York, and its partners: The Georgia Institute of Technology, The University of Texas at Arlington, and The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign received a planning grant in 2010 from the National Science Foundation to develop a new Industry/University Cooperative Research Center (I/UCRC) In Energy-Efficient Electronic Systems (E3S). E3S would work in partnership with industry and academia (including Villanova University) to develop systematic methodologies for operating information technology, telecommunications, and electronic systems and cooling equipment synergistically. The Center would bring together computer scientists, mechanical, and electrical engineers in a synergistic multi disciplinary team to address these issues. A planning grant workshop was held on December 1-2, 2010 at Binghamton University in Binghamton, New York. Faculty, staff and graduate students from academic partners, NSF personnel, and representatives from over 25 companies involved with using data centers or who were providers of infrastructures for data centers (including vendors of IT equipment, cooling systems, power distribution equipment, etc) came together to discuss the need for a center in this area. Details of the symposium and attendees are at: http://www2.binghamton.edu/e3s/nsf_iucrc.html. The attendees showed strong support for the planned IUCRC, with its goal of promoting significant reductions in energy consumption in our nation’s electronic systems. Representatives from the attending companies selected five top research projects to be developed in a final proposal to NSF. The team was invited to submit a final proposal, where over two dozen companies committed to supporting the planned center. This proposal was funded and the new IUCRC in Energy–Efficient Electronic Systems is currently in operation. The multi-institutional university leadership team, led by Bahgat Sammakia, Binghamton University includes: Kanad Ghose and Bruce Murray, Binghamton University; Dereje Agonafer, University of Texas at Arlington; and Alfonso Ortega, Villanova University.
