DEFENSE

EnSight licensed for use at RENCI’s six locations: Computational Engineering International (CEI) and the Renaissance Computing Institute (RENCI) announced today a new partnership that makes CEI’s EnSight, an industry-leading scientific visualization software, available to RENCI’s staff and partners at its headquarters and engagement facilities throughout North Carolina. CEI is an Apex, N.C.-based developer of software applications for the scientific and engineering community and offers products that cover all aspects of simulation, including meshing, plotting, process workflow, animation, and visualization. RENCI is a statewide virtual organization that seeks to solve complex, multidisciplinary problems by uniting academia, government, industry, and world-class computing and technology resources. It was formed to drive technological innovation and scientific discovery and to spur economic growth in North Carolina and is a state-funded collaborative venture of the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, Duke University, and North Carolina State University. Through the new partnership RENCI has licensed 12 seats of EnSight DR, a version of the application intended specifically for users of distributed computing. The move will allow all RENCI researchers and partners to take advantage of EnSight’s powerful visualization capabilities at any of its existing or soon-to-open research centers. RENCI’s main offices are in Chapel Hill, about half way between the Duke and UNC-Chapel Hill campuses. It also operates engagement centers at North Carolina State University’s Centennial Campus in Raleigh and will soon open centers at East Carolina University in Greenville, UNC Asheville, Duke, and UNC-Chapel Hill. All RENCI facilities will have advanced visualization systems available for use by university researchers and other partners. “We’re pleased not only to gain users at six different academic locations throughout the state but to gain users whose work is sure to push the limits of visualization,” said Darin McKinnis, CEI’s vice president of marketing and sales. “As these top researchers from government, academia, and the private-sector expand the bounds of their own fields, their feedback will help us to continually improve EnSight and keep pace with the latest, most cutting-edge needs in the scientific and engineering community.” In addition to providing new EnSight users, the partnership also gives CEI access to RENCI’s visualization facilities. Equipped with the latest high-resolution visualization walls designed and built by RENCI, the facilities are ideal for showcasing EnSight’s capabilities and will be used to conduct software demonstrations and user training. “This is a great example of a university/business collaboration that will provide many benefits to both partners,” said RENCI economic development director David Knowles. “RENCI has the chance to use a powerful visualization software tool in new and exciting ways and to showcase its state-of-the-art visualization facilities. CEI, in turn, will gain more than just a new customer. Our facilities will provide CEI with the ideal venue to demonstrate its products to potential clients and to train current users throughout the state.” RENCI has been actively developing visualization resources to allow researchers to take advantage of the simulation technology in multiple areas, including medical, geological, and meteorological research and computer-aided engineering (CAE). By adopting EnSight as a common visualization platform throughout its facilities, RENCI not only provides researchers access to an industry-leading tool, but also creates a computing standard which will facilitate effective collaboration among its clients and across disciplines. For more information about CEI or any of its software, visit its Web site. To learn more about RENCI and its current projects, visit its Web site.