Final Design Planning for the Leadership-Class Computing Facility

University Of Texas At Austin, Austin TX

Investigators

Abstract

Over the past decades, NSF has played a central role in enabling the transformation of Science and Engineering (S&E) research using computation-based methods, not only as a leading funder of pioneering research for all of S&E, but also as a funder of the nation’s advanced research computing ecosystem. The leadership-class computing facility (LCCF) project is part of NSF’s broad holistic advanced computing strategy that is intended to provide unique resources and services to enable discoveries in the largest and most computationally intensive S&E frontiers that could not advance otherwise. NSF’s stewardship of the LCCF draws on decades of leadership and experience in serving the full S&E research community with transformative cyberinfrastructure(CI). This award supports the design activities for the Final Design (FD) phase of the LCCF. The LCCF is envisioned as an advanced distributed leadership computing facility that will serve as a nexus for world-class computational capabilities. Integral to the facility will be the delivery of software and services that will support the continued transformation of the scientific discovery enterprise, as well as extensive partnerships that will leverage the nation’s collective expertise across the broader CI ecosystem. Importantly, the LCCF will have a comprehensive education and outreach plan that will foster and nurture the future S&E workforce for our nation. During FD, the LCCF planning will to be guided by the research community to ensure its broadest possible impact to S&E research. Furthermore, the project will continue to refine its project baseline definition and construction execution plan. These refinements will include a more detailed bottom-up scope, cost, schedule, and risk analysis to finalize the risk-adjusted Total Project Cost (TPC) and schedule for construction. The project will also make final decisions on the selection of technologies, vendors, and performance targets for the construction of the facility. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.