ENGINEERING

Seoul National University (SNU) and Microsoft have announced a joint effort to develop low-cost, high performance engineering design software. Supported by the Korea Science and Engineering Foundation and Microsoft Corp., the project's goal is to advance the Internet Parallel Structural Analysis Program (IPSAP) for industrial engineering design in the coming decade. The enhanced IPSAP code will enable engineers and academic researchers to more effectively perform complex computations in structural design. Potential uses for the code include research on more secure and efficient design of structural systems for various areas such as automotive and aerospace vehicles, architectural and civil structures, including unorthodox aircraft and alternative energy systems of the future. Led by Professor Seung Jo Kim, principle nvestigator and professor of School of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering at Seoul National University and winner of the Supercomputing Gordon Bell Award, researchers at SNU will develop techniques for handling application data and workflow with high performance computing frameworks including Windows Communication Foundation, Microsoft's unified framework for rapidly building distributed applications. "SNU has a long-standing commitment to academic excellence in science and engineering research," said Dr. Jang-Moo Lee, president of Seoul National University who attended the signing ceremony. "We appreciate partnerships with both public and private sector organizations such as the Korea Science and Engineering Foundation and Microsoft, to support research in the area of low-cost, high performance computing to meet growing demands of industrial design in the coming decade." "Computing plays a critical role in facilitating scientific research across almost every discipline," said Tony Hey, corporate vice president of Technical Computing at Microsoft. "Microsoft is committed to advancing science through computing, and we look forward to exploring how technical computing can help accelerate discovery and innovation for the scientific and engineering researchers." The project will be based on Microsoft Windows Compute Cluster Server 2003, which is designed to enable engineers and researchers to accelerate innovation by providing an HPC platform that is easier to deploy and manage through simplified cluster deployment, better integration with existing Windows infrastructure and familiar development environment. Microsoft will provide technical support as well as software licences under the MSDN Academic Alliance license to facilitate unlimited use of the latest Microsoft products for research purposes by faculty members and students at the SNU Department of Aerospace Engineering.