CRI: IAD: Acquisition of a Computing Cluster and Storage for Information Technology Research

Illinois Institute Of Technology, Chicago IL

Investigators

Abstract

This grant supports the acquisition of a high performance cluster and storage system to build the departmental computing infrastructure required for information technology research. This infrastructure will enable the PIs to conduct state-of-the-art research in six areas: (1) dynamic virtual environments for cyberspace, (2) design and implementation of scalable information systems, (3) push-based I/O servers, (4) management of wireless networks, (5) adaptive fault resilience for high end computing, and (6) scalable parallel numerical algorithms and simulations. Each of these projects requires significant computational resources, and some of them also require super-user privilege for individual system configuration and testing. A dedicated computing infrastructure is essential to the success of these projects. In addition, this infrastructure will offer a platform for students to learn and experiment with state-of-the-art computing technologies. In the context on on-going course enhancement activities, it will provide an environment for reforming the curriculum in the areas of parallel processing, distributed systems, computer networking, information retrieval, data mining, computer simulation, scientific computing, etc. Women are clearly underrepresented in computer science. Three of the five PIs are female faculty. They are actively recruiting female students and other underrepresented minorities. This CRI facility will enable scientific advances that would not otherwise be possible, and will substantially impact on the research and educational activities at the Illinois Institute of Technology. More information about this project can be found at the project Web site (http://meta.cs.iit.edu/~scf/).