Scientific Computing Research Environments for the Mathematical Sciences - SCREMS

University Of Maryland Baltimore County, Baltimore MD

Investigators

Abstract

The Department of Mathematics and Statistics at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) will purchase a distributed memory parallel computer which will be dedicated to the support of departmental research in the mathematical sciences. The principal investigators intend to purchase a 64-processor Linux cluster consisting of 32 dual-processor computational nodes connected with a high-speed Myrinet network and equipped with a significant amount of fast central disk storage using a RAID controller. All researchers plan to use the Message Passing Interface (MPI) to provide reliable portability. The equipment will be used for multiple research projects, including, in particular, the areas of applications in semiconductor manufacturing, quantum chemistry, bioinformatics, computational neurobiology, and constrained mechanical systems. The research projects are unified by the need to use efficient parallel computing to enable the solution of practically relevant problems. The research areas addressed are of current national interest and involve solution methodologies that cut across these disciplines and will lead to more efficient simulation techniques in other areas. The computer will also play a role in the department's education mission, the university's MARC U*STAR (Minority Access to Research Careers) program, and in the principal investigators' Research Experiences for Undergraduates activities, by involving students at various levels in contemporary methods in scientific computing.