Five University of Hawaii students have been awarded grants totaling more than $116,000 for research using the Maui High Performance Computing Center. The awards are the first in a new program aimed at advancing UH research through greater student involvement and increased use of modern supercomputing technologies. "This kind of internal investment is indispensable in helping our own students learn to apply leading-edge technologies to research problems, particularly those in Hawaii," said Jim Gaines, UH interim vice president for research. The projects include one by student Eva-Marie Nosal titled "Acoustical Localization of Humpback Whales." Nosal has developed a computer program that identifies the position of humpback whales from their singing, which is picked up by hydrophones in the ocean. She’ll use the center’s high-performance computers to try to track whales over a larger area of the ocean. Other projects study the evolution of genes, a soil-structure analysis for a bridge to be built on the Big Island, an analysis of the performance of supercomputers and an investigation of leeward weather circulation on the Big Island. The studies are being done by students who are being mentored by UH faculty advisers. Each student will have access to the center’s supercomputing resources through an educational partnership agreement between the university and the Air Force Research Lab. Students will make a public presentation on their research. A second round of the program will be announced in the spring. Faculty and students from any UH campus interested in the program may go online and visit http://www.hawaii.edu/hpc/app2004web.htm or contact Sue Brown at (808) 956-2808. Brown’s e-mail address is stbrown@-hawaii.edu.