University of Miami faculty are getting a powerful new resource that will aid their scientific research efforts in a multitude of academic disciplines. The new Center for Computational Science at the University will focus initially on computational science research in five areas: physical science, biology and bioinformatics, chemistry, data mining, and visualization.

“Computation is an essential tool for state-of-the art scientific research,” says Executive Vice President and Provost Thomas J. LeBlanc. “We envision this center as a resource for the entire University research community, not only in terms of computing cycles but also, and equally important, the inclusion of research and support staff who can assist our faculty in translating their research problems into software that runs efficiently on high-speed computers.”

A state-of-the-art data center will be located on the Miller School campus in a hurricane-hardened garage and chiller plant that is scheduled for completion in October 2008. The data center will feature symmetric multiprocessing units and other sophisticated hardware that will link multiple computers and perform trillions of calculations per second, giving investigators the computing power they need to conduct research on a grand scale rather than in small clusters. In addition to the data center, the Center for Computational Science will maintain offices on the Miller School, Coral Gables, and Rosenstiel School campuses.

(Appeared in the August and the September 2008 issue of Veritas.)