ACADEMIA

They name their supercomputers after rock stars at the University at Buffalo. "U2" was selected by the University at Buffalo's Center for Computational Research (CCR) as the name of its newest and most powerful supercomputer, a 1,668-processor Dell supercomputing cluster that will be used to support university research ranging from genomics, to groundwater modeling to the monitoring of human-rights abuses. According to a report in the Buffalo News, a shortage of electricity has left the new supercomputer running at only 60 percent of its capacity. The $2.3 million computer was announced in July. The addition of the federally funded computer was said to nearly double UB's number-crunching power. However, they haven't been able to fully start the machine without causing power outages at the computer center at UB's North Campus in Amherst. The shortage is the result of an initial underestimation of the power needed to run the machine. "I'm pushing to have this on line as soon as possible," said a statement from Bruce Holm, director of the state Center of Excellence in Bioinformatics and Life Sciences, which oversees the supercomputer center. His statement was relayed through a university spokeswoman. According to center director Russ Miller, computer labs often use quirky themes to keep straight the identities, functions and locations of their machines. Comic book heroes, planets and stars, and science fiction characters typically are represented. "A lot of places start with some sort of theme but it fizzles out," Miller says. Perhaps they should try something a bit more hip, or hip-hop. The University at Buffalo is a premier research-intensive public university, the largest and most comprehensive campus in the State University of New York. The Center for Computational Research is part of UB's New York State Center of Excellence in Bioinformatics and Life Sciences.