"Supercomputing and Universities -- Then, Now, and Tomorrow," by John R. ("Jay") Boisseau
- November 2, 2007 at 3 PM
- Mechanical Engineering (MEC) Room 205
On Friday, November 2, the UVa Computational Science Speaker Series continues with a lecture by UVa alumnus John R. ("Jay") Boisseau, director of the Texas Advanced Computing Center (TACC) at The University of Texas at Austin. Since Dr. Boisseau assumed the directorship in June 2001, TACC has grown into one of the leading advanced computing centers in the world, by developing and deploying powerful HPC, remote visualization, data storage, and grid computing technologies for researchers. Boisseau also serves as principal investigator for TACC's two largest awards, the NSF TeraGrid institutional lead, and the "Track2" petascale computing system. His newest interest is the application of HPC and grid technologies to computational biology and biomedicine.
Jay Boisseau received his Bachelor's degree in Astronomy and Physics from the University of Virginia in 1986, and his Master's in Astronomy in 1990 at The University of Texas at Austin. Before his involvement with TACC, he held positions at the Arctic Region Supercomputing Center and at the San Diego Supercomputer Center, where he was founder and Associate Director of the Scientific Computing Department.
On November 2, Dr. Boisseau will talk about "Supercomputing and Universities -- Then, Now, and Tomorrow." The last two decades have demonstrated the growing importance of "supercomputing," or generally advanced computing technologies (including scientific visualization, massive data storage, high-bandwidth networking, and distributed computing software), in the conduct of leading-edge research. Now, at the beginning of the 21st century, the increased integration and sharing of these advanced computing technologies has produced the concept of cyberinfrastructure (CI). There is widespread recognition that CI, including supercomputing, will be fundamental to knowledge discovery across disciplines, as well as to economic productivity and competitiveness, homeland defense, health care, education, and many other aspects of science and society. Universities around the world, therefore, are developing and deploying comprehensive advanced CI for enabling and accelerating research across academic programs. This presentation will summarize the current leading programs and trends in supercomputing and CI, using the emergence of the Texas Advanced Computing Center at The University of Texas at Austin as a case study in developing and supporting a leading-edge academic advanced computing center.
The Computational Science Speaker Series is co-sponsored by James Hilton, UVa Vice President and Chief Information Officer; the College of Arts & Sciences; and the School of Engineering and Applied Science.
For more information, contact Alice Howard at agh@virginia.edu.