ACADEMIA

For the first time, the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA) has a home to call its own on the campus of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. On Jan. 25, NCSA held an official dedication for its new 142,000-square-foot building at 1205 W. Clark St., Urbana. National Science Foundation Director Arden Bement speaking during the dedication of NCSA's new facility. "This celebration recognizes the dedication, hard work, and ingenuity of NCSA's staff in building and operating the computing infrastructure upon which the nation depends," said NCSA director Thom Dunning. "Building a national cyberinfrastructure is a 'contact sport' that involves scientists and engineers, software developers, and computer technologists. By bringing all of us together, the new NCSA building will foster the collaborations that will be needed for success." In his remarks during the dedication ceremony, University of Illinois President Joseph B. White said that "every institution is known for its spires of excellence; NCSA is a spire of excellence of the University of Illinois." "NCSA has has a 20-year history of working with the nation's top scientists to find the answer, build the model, test the hypothesis. These 20 years have been pivotal in advancing global knowledge," added University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Chancellor Richard Herman. Also speaking at the dedication ceremony were; Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White; U.S. Representative Tim Johnson, a member of the House Science Committee; and National Science Foundation Director Arden Bement. Their remarks were followed by demonstrations of NCSA technology and current projects, including efforts to develop cyberinfrastructure and cyberenvironments for environmental research, astronomy, earthquake risk assessment, atmospheric science and weather prediction, and genomics. Bement then kicked off NCSA's 20th Anniversary Distinguished Lecture Series with a talk titled "Un-Common Sense: Recipe for a Cyber Planet." Bement discussed the benefits of "uncommon sense" as the United States meets the challenges posed by global problems, including global competition, and the scientific and technological advances that will be required to address those challenges. "I'm certain NCSA will continue to take the lead in meeting these challenges," he said. Bement advocated "more global involvement, not less. ... Today, collaboration is the only game in town," he said. NCSA was launched in 1986 through funding from the National Science Foundation, the state of Illinois, and the University of Illinois. For most of its 20-year history, the center housed personnel at several buildings scattered across the University's campus. Bringing NCSA's more than 300 employees together under one roof will enable a greater level of collaboration and innovation. In addition to the new facility, NCSA maintains a state-of-the-art machine room at the Advanced Computation Building where the center offers more than 40 teraflops of computing power to the nation's scientists and engineer.