ACADEMIA

Interactive Virtual Environment Centre (IVEC) for high-performance computing and visualization technologies in Western Australia received an additional $3.1 million in state government funding last week which will go towards bringing its supercomputing facilities in line with the other APAC members. A joint venture between Central TAFE, CSIRO, Curtin University of Technology and the University of Western Australia (UWA), IVEC will allocate about one million of the funding towards upgrading the HPC hardware and software, according to Dr Steve Harvey, deputy chief of CSIRO exploration and mining in Western Australia. Harvey said the upgrades are necessary so that the new IVEC, IVEC2, has the capacity to service the extensive demand in usage that has developed over recent years. A new HPC facility will be located at The University of Western Australia and the Australian Resources Research Centre nodes by the end of 2005. IVEC2's Mission Statement has been refined to reflect its more mature stage of development, relative to IVEC1. IVEC2 will increase Western Australia's innovative capacity and economic development through the exploration, evolution and exploitation of advanced computing technology, high-speed communications, scientific visualization, grid technologies and e-research infrastructure. With an initial core membership consisting of Central TAFE, CSIRO, Curtin University of Technology, Murdoch University and UWA, Harvey said IVEC2 aims to engage, encourage and energize the research and education communities and industry into understanding how advanced computing and visualization technologies can enhance economic development. Funding has also been earmarked for connecting new members to the network and to upgrade existing infrastructure. Virtual reality technology will be a component of IVEC2. The funding also includes the inaugural Premier's Collaborative Research Program grant of $600,000 over three years for specific collaborative research to develop a 3D virtual environment to enhance investigation of mining accidents bringing the total funding to $3.7 million. Virtual reality technology aimed at reducing the number of mine site accidents will also be developed, according to the state's Premier and Science Minister Dr Geoff Gallop. "Virtual reality is becoming a key tool in medicine, industry and a range of research fields," Gallop said. "In the research field, it is very important as it helps overcome the isolation that can be a problem for Western Australia - by giving researchers the chance to collaborate in real time with interstate and overseas researchers."