Grand Opening Of Center For Computational Research Includes Visit By Pataki

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Gov. George E. Pataki was the guest of honor Oct. 26 at the grand-opening ceremonies of the University at Buffalo's Center for Computational Research, one of the nation's leading supercomputing centers.

The occasion marked the governor's first visit to the UB campus.

Ceremonies began at noon in the Woldman Theatre in Norton Hall on the UB North (Amherst) Campus, with remarks by Pataki and UB President William R. Greiner. Russ Miller, Ph.D., professor of computer science and engineering, and director of the CCR, and Richard Hirsh, deputy division director of the National Science Foundation's Division of Advanced Computational Infrastructure and Research, also spoke.

Special guests included Jeremy Jacobs, chair of the UB Council, and representatives of IBM, Silicon Graphics and Sun Microsystems, all of whom contributed financially to the center.

Following the ceremonies, Pataki toured the world-class computational facility, where he interacted with CCR's virtual-reality machine, the Pyramid Systems ImmersaDesk. Scientists use the machine to visualize and "walk through" complex systems in three dimensions, including molecules, meteorological simulations and engineered structures, such as factories and buildings.

Together with researchers in the Virtual Reality Laboratory in the UB School of Engineering and Applied Sciences and Innovative Business Communications, a local animation company, the CCR developed a special three-dimensional presentation for Pataki in which he was able to interact with a virtual world that had been designed to explain different aspects of the CCR and computational science.

"This is different from what people see when they go to DisneyWorld, for example, and see the Muppets in 3D," said Miller. "In those cases, there is a lot of high-end computing used in order to prepare the film. However, what you see is preprogrammed -- the viewer cannot interact with the environment. In this case, the governor and other visitors will be able to wear glasses that are tracked by the system and use a wand to navigate the environment."

The presentation was created by Ben Porcari of IBC and Thenkurussi ("Kesh") Kesavadas, Ph.D., director of the Virtual Reality Laboratory and a professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering.

When CCR was established in January, UB was dramatically transformed from a campus with no supercomputers to one of the leading supercomputing centers in the nation.

CCR's mission is to enable world-class, computationally intensive research at UB, foster industrial partnerships in high-performance computing and visualization, and serve as a focal point for technology transfer of high-performance computing and visualization within Western New York.

The research facility, featuring more than $7 million in computer equipment, was made possible by gifts of more than $1 million each from IBM and Silicon Graphics, Inc.; $1 million in funding from the State University of New York; a $300,000 grant from the National Science Foundation, and a gift of more than $400,000 in computer equipment from Sun Microsystems. UB made an initial investment of approximately $1.5 million to create and support the center.

More recently, the center has entered into important strategic partnerships with other firms.

For example, Toronto-based Alias/Wavefront, the leading supplier in North America of 3D software for industrial design, digital imagery and special effects for feature films, donated $220,000 worth of software to CCR for integration into UB academic and research projects, such as the modeling of bridges, cities and factories.

The center also has received funding as a subcontractor with the University of California at Berkeley to Q-Chem, a computational chemistry firm based in Pittsburgh, on a $750,000 National Institutes of Health grant the company received.

In the 10 months it has been in operation, the CCR already has:

• Opened accounts with nearly 100 UB faculty members, graduate students and post-doctoral researchers, who keep UB's two supercomputers, the IBM SP and the SGI Origin2000, running at or near capacity 24 hours a day

• Developed the first-ever Linux-based Sun Ultra 5 cluster, dubbed the "poor man's supercomputer" since it provides supercomputing power at a fraction of the cost

• Developed partnerships with national companies, including SGI, IBM, Sun Microsystems, Nortel Networks, Alias/Wavefront and Q-Chem, resulting in software donations worth more than $3 million.

• Begun to develop partnerships with local and regional companies, including Praxair, Occidental Chemical, M&T Bank, Innovative Business Communications and Kodak, and is exploring opportunities with others

• Held a successful two-week workshop on computational chemistry for high-school students

• Proposed the establishment of a graduate-level certificate program in computational science

• Created a year-long, center-based course in computational science that began this fall; more than 25 students from throughout the university are enrolled

• Worked with other SUNY campuses on several joint projects, including an intersession workshop for students at Brockport and Geneseo

• Supported a project by chemistry department faculty members at Fredonia to carry out large chemical simulations using CCR's supercomputers

• Hired four staff members: Matt Jones, Ph.D., formerly of Los Alamos National Laboratory, as computational scientist for the SGI Origin2000; Jeffrey Tilson, Ph.D., currently of Argonne National Laboratory, as computational scientist for the IBM SP; Cynthia Cornelius as IBM SP system administrator and CCR webmaster, and Chadi Sleiman as system administrator for the SGI Origin 2000.

The CCR conducts three tours weekly, all open to members of the UB community and the public. Participants have included representatives from local industry, members of the American Crystallographic Society, the Society of Old Crows (a national defense-contractors group), a Boy Scout troop, high-school students and several hundred UB faculty members and students.