ACADEMIA

Since opening its offices in March 2004, Ohio Supercomputer Center-Springfield (OSC-Springfield) has filled eight of its nine projected positions, including senior and junior networking researchers and systems specialists. According to Project Director Kevin Wohlever, OSC-Springfield will fill 12 positions by year-end, totaling 30 jobs by the end of 2005. "I am personally excited to see these new hires start at OSC-Springfield,” Wohlever said. “As we move from a planning stage to an implementation stage, I look forward to the collaborations and research opportunities they will bring to the Springfield area.” Construction is underway on the three-year $25 million facility that will greatly enhance OSC- Springfield’s capabilities. The facility will focus on specific applications including computation-intensive supercomputing, large-scale data mining, regional and global climate modeling, materials science, nanotechnology, bioinformatics, and high-energy physics. “OSC-Springfield is a critical link in the high technology corridor that is beginning to span the state of Ohio,” said Dick Pritchard, OSC’s Director of Federal Programs. “That economic growth corridor includes jobs in advanced biomedical technology, defense and space research, data management, and future manufacturing software.” New staff members hired for OSC-Springfield include: • Senior Networking Researcher Joseph Fernando has prior experience as a computer science and engineering instructor and also as project manager and research scientist for Systran Federal Corporation (SFC) in Dayton. As SFC principal investigator, Fernando collaborated with various branches of the Department of Defense (DoD). Fernando earned his bachelor’s degree in electronics and telecommunication from the University of Moratuwa in Sri Lanka. He earned both his master’s degree in computer engineering and his doctorate in computer science from Wright State University. Several of Fernando’s specializations are in digital signal processing, phrase-based voice recognition, and ATM network modeling. • Ananth Devulapalli earned his bachelor’s degree in computer science and engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology and his master’s degree in computer and information science from OSU in 2004. Devulapalli enjoys problem-solving applications, especially when they involve networking, operating systems, and resource utilization. • Dennis Dalessandro is a 2004 computer science graduate from The Ohio State University (OSU). Dalessandro, an Orville, Ohio native, joined OSC-Springfield as a junior networking researcher. At OSC-Springfield, Dalessandro will research networking, file system design and Field Programming Gate Array (FPGA) programming with Fernando and fellow junior networking researcher Devulapalli. • Systems Specialist Jordan Schweller will handle Cray X1 and XD1 administration, MAC cluster design/administration, network design/ administration, and staff system support at OSC-Springfield. Schweller gained three years of system/network support experience in both high performance computing and office environments at OSC-Columbus. Schweller is a spring 2004 OSU graduate with a bachelor’s degree in electrical and computer engineering. • Systems Specialist Sherry Sun joined OSC-Springfield in July 2004. Sun gained prior systems administration experience at Ohio University. Sun also worked at Hanover University, serving as a network administrator, part-time business faculty member, and interim director of academic computing. In addition to her experience in system and network administration, Sun worked as an English instructor in Shanghai, China. Sun earned both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Frostburg State University. • OSC-Springfield’s Database Manager, Jim Gregory, has worked in programming and database administration for 25 years. Gregory will work specifically on data management and meta-data issues. Gregory, a Springfield native and resident, earned his bachelor’s degree in mathematics from OSU. He also has an associate’s degree in computer programming. Prior to joining OSC-Springfield, Gregory worked for Clark State Community College, Wright Patterson Air Force Base, and Evenflo. • Sharron Madero, OSC-Springfield’s office manager, is originally from Fairborn, Ohio. After earning her bachelor’s degree from Wright State University, Madero began her career at Wright Patterson Air Force Base (WPAFB) as an Air Force contractor and worked on the base’s PET program. Madero has been employed with OSC since 2000. OSC-Springfield is funded through a $6 million grant from a 2004 Department of Energy (DOE) Appropriations headed by Representative David Hobson (R-Springfield). Hobson collaborated with the Turner Foundation, Clark County government and The Greentree Group in support of the OSC-Springfield bill, passed in December 2003. According to Hobson, the new center will not only benefit the high-tech research community, it will also create high paying jobs in the Springfield area. The OSC-Springfield Center is an extension of the Columbus-based Ohio Supercomputer Center, founded in 1987 by the Ohio Board of Regents. OSC’s mission is to foster technology, education and computer networking among Ohio’s colleges and universities. Temporary OSC-Springfield offices are now in place adjacent to Springfield City Hall. OSC-Springfield is anticipated to move into permanent housing at the Prime Ohio Corporate Park in summer 2005.