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The Daily OrangeU of Illinois to build world's fastest super computer
By Stephanie Musat
Posted: 9/3/07, 11:25 PM EST Section: News
The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign will soon be the home of the fastest computer in the world. The computer, dubbed Blue Waters, will be built on the university's campus after being chosen by the National Science Board (NSB) for its academic excellence in science and engineering.
"In essence, we want to accelerate scientific discovery. It's more than just a big computer. It is meant as a resource for scientists and engineers so they can research with greater detail," said Trish Barker, spokesperson for the National Science Foundation (NSF), the organization that is providing more than $200 million to fund the project.
Blue Waters will be able to do quadrillions of calculations per second compared to past computers, which were only capable of doing trillions of calculations per second, Barker said.
Under the supervision of Thomas Dunning, Blue Waters has the capabilities of examining the formation of the universe, chain reactions in living cells and the interaction between the Sun and the Earth's magnetosphere and ionosphere along with other programs.
Illinois was chosen by the NSF to house the computer after the university submitted a proposal upon hearing about the project.
According to Barker, the university spent about a year coming up with the proposal after conversing with scientists who will be using the computer.
"The University of Illinois has a reputation for expertise in science and engineering," Barker said.
NSF and Illinois have been working together for more than 20 years to provide strong academic programs, especially in science and engineering. Both institutions will contribute in the construction of the computer with help from IBM.
"It is a great opportunity for us, especially those of us who are going into the science fields," said Illinois sophomore Colin Wilson. "It is the greatest resource in the world, and it is right here for our use once it is built."
Construction on Blue Waters has yet to begin but is scheduled to start in September, as soon as the discussion about last-minute details between the university and NSF ends. The computer should be finished by 2011.
"Not many undergrads knew about the computer, but after finding out about it, I think it is really exciting," said Illinois freshman Chris Chou. "It's cool that the world's fastest computer is in our backyard."
NSF also awarded $65 million to the University of Tennessee at Knoxville's Joint Institute for Computational Science to create a secondary supercomputer on its campus. The computer will specialize in elementary particles, brain functions, natural disasters and understanding global climate changes.
Last year, NSF gave $59 million to the Texas Advanced Computing Center at the University of Texas at Austin. The center, in conjunction with Arizona State University and Cornell University, will create four computing systems with data analysis programs.
Buffons
An all-male a cappella singing group, the CU Buffons, recently handed out a questionnaire to potential new members on its University of Colorado at Boulder campus. And one question, which asked for student reaction to a recent stabbing on campus, had an answer choice that led to at least one student complaint.
The answer choice read: "mad someone got that guy before you did." The university administration said in response that there was nothing funny about a student being stabbed in the throat. Officials asked the group to apologize, but added they will not force it.
Just being an artist
The University of Columbia has created a permanent faculty position, with a unique yet simple title: "artist."
Oliver Sacks, a neurologist and writer who has been at The Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the Bronx for the past four decades, will be the inaugural title holder. As the school's resident artist, he will work across disciplines, give public lectures, collaborate with his peers and see patients.
"In essence, we want to accelerate scientific discovery. It's more than just a big computer. It is meant as a resource for scientists and engineers so they can research with greater detail," said Trish Barker, spokesperson for the National Science Foundation (NSF), the organization that is providing more than $200 million to fund the project.
Blue Waters will be able to do quadrillions of calculations per second compared to past computers, which were only capable of doing trillions of calculations per second, Barker said.
Under the supervision of Thomas Dunning, Blue Waters has the capabilities of examining the formation of the universe, chain reactions in living cells and the interaction between the Sun and the Earth's magnetosphere and ionosphere along with other programs.
Illinois was chosen by the NSF to house the computer after the university submitted a proposal upon hearing about the project.
According to Barker, the university spent about a year coming up with the proposal after conversing with scientists who will be using the computer.
"The University of Illinois has a reputation for expertise in science and engineering," Barker said.
NSF and Illinois have been working together for more than 20 years to provide strong academic programs, especially in science and engineering. Both institutions will contribute in the construction of the computer with help from IBM.
"It is a great opportunity for us, especially those of us who are going into the science fields," said Illinois sophomore Colin Wilson. "It is the greatest resource in the world, and it is right here for our use once it is built."
Construction on Blue Waters has yet to begin but is scheduled to start in September, as soon as the discussion about last-minute details between the university and NSF ends. The computer should be finished by 2011.
"Not many undergrads knew about the computer, but after finding out about it, I think it is really exciting," said Illinois freshman Chris Chou. "It's cool that the world's fastest computer is in our backyard."
NSF also awarded $65 million to the University of Tennessee at Knoxville's Joint Institute for Computational Science to create a secondary supercomputer on its campus. The computer will specialize in elementary particles, brain functions, natural disasters and understanding global climate changes.
Last year, NSF gave $59 million to the Texas Advanced Computing Center at the University of Texas at Austin. The center, in conjunction with Arizona State University and Cornell University, will create four computing systems with data analysis programs.
Buffons
An all-male a cappella singing group, the CU Buffons, recently handed out a questionnaire to potential new members on its University of Colorado at Boulder campus. And one question, which asked for student reaction to a recent stabbing on campus, had an answer choice that led to at least one student complaint.
The answer choice read: "mad someone got that guy before you did." The university administration said in response that there was nothing funny about a student being stabbed in the throat. Officials asked the group to apologize, but added they will not force it.
Just being an artist
The University of Columbia has created a permanent faculty position, with a unique yet simple title: "artist."
Oliver Sacks, a neurologist and writer who has been at The Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the Bronx for the past four decades, will be the inaugural title holder. As the school's resident artist, he will work across disciplines, give public lectures, collaborate with his peers and see patients.
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