GOVERNMENT
New Director of HPC to Lead, Develop Activities for LSU Researchers to Access Campus Supercomputer Resources
The University has named Honggao Liu, Ph.D., its new Director of High-Performance Computing, or HPC. In this role, Liu, who has worked at LSU for more than 11 years and worked for the past six years as a researcher in the HPC department, will oversee all high-performance computing activities on campus and will work with campus partners to establish the University as a leader in applying high-performance computing technology to research and education.
“I am excited by the prospects of Honggao’s leadership of this critical area as Director of HPC, and believe strongly that the University community at large will benefit from his focus on customer service and proven expertise in the field,” said Brian Voss, LSU Vice Chancellor for Information Technology and the University’s Chief Information Officer.
The University’s HPC department operates as a partnership between CCT and LSU Information Technology Services, or ITS. HPC staff can help campus researchers access the University’s supercomputing resources and discover new ways to apply this technology to their areas of study.
“The HPC group is an integral part of our efforts to advance the University’s Flagship Agenda and promote economic development for the state through advanced computational applications and high-performance computing, which benefit both researchers and businesses,” said Stephen David Beck, CCT interim director. “We are very happy to have Honggao in place as HPC Director, and we believe that with his understanding of campus users’ needs, he will continue to make HPC a vital resource for our faculty and research staff.”
Liu replaces former HPC Director Brian Ropers-Huilman, who left the University in 2007. He has prior experience in scientific computing and applications support, supercomputing system deployment and administration and providing scientific computing consultation to researchers in science and engineering.
“As our campus researchers develop initiatives for the coming semester, we want them to know that HPC is always available as a resource for them and their academic departments,” Liu said. “Our HPC staff can assist with projects across all disciplines, and we have consultants available in Frey and Middleton Library to meet with our faculty, staff and students about specific questions they may have. In the coming semester, I hope to meet with more researchers on campus and get them more information about how we can meet their needs.”
In his previous role with HPC, Liu was instrumental in establishing LSU as a nationally recognized facility for providing high-performance computing access to researchers on campus, the state, throughout the nation and across the world. He was part of the team that integrated the Louisiana Optical Network Initiative, or LONI, onto the TeraGrid in early 2008 and is currently the TeraGrid site lead for LONI. LONI is a high-speed, fiber optic network that combines supercomputing resources around the state through its research universities. TeraGrid is the backbone of U.S. cyberinfrastructure, combining resources from 11 partner sites around the country, including LONI.
Liu began his role as HPC Director in November 2008. He has a Ph.D. in chemical engineering from LSU, a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from Xi'an Jiaotong University in China and two master’s degrees in chemical engineering from Tianjin University, also in China, and LSU.
For more information on HPC at LSU, please visit http://www.hpc.lsu.edu/ .
“I am excited by the prospects of Honggao’s leadership of this critical area as Director of HPC, and believe strongly that the University community at large will benefit from his focus on customer service and proven expertise in the field,” said Brian Voss, LSU Vice Chancellor for Information Technology and the University’s Chief Information Officer.
The University’s HPC department operates as a partnership between CCT and LSU Information Technology Services, or ITS. HPC staff can help campus researchers access the University’s supercomputing resources and discover new ways to apply this technology to their areas of study.
“The HPC group is an integral part of our efforts to advance the University’s Flagship Agenda and promote economic development for the state through advanced computational applications and high-performance computing, which benefit both researchers and businesses,” said Stephen David Beck, CCT interim director. “We are very happy to have Honggao in place as HPC Director, and we believe that with his understanding of campus users’ needs, he will continue to make HPC a vital resource for our faculty and research staff.”
Liu replaces former HPC Director Brian Ropers-Huilman, who left the University in 2007. He has prior experience in scientific computing and applications support, supercomputing system deployment and administration and providing scientific computing consultation to researchers in science and engineering.
“As our campus researchers develop initiatives for the coming semester, we want them to know that HPC is always available as a resource for them and their academic departments,” Liu said. “Our HPC staff can assist with projects across all disciplines, and we have consultants available in Frey and Middleton Library to meet with our faculty, staff and students about specific questions they may have. In the coming semester, I hope to meet with more researchers on campus and get them more information about how we can meet their needs.”
In his previous role with HPC, Liu was instrumental in establishing LSU as a nationally recognized facility for providing high-performance computing access to researchers on campus, the state, throughout the nation and across the world. He was part of the team that integrated the Louisiana Optical Network Initiative, or LONI, onto the TeraGrid in early 2008 and is currently the TeraGrid site lead for LONI. LONI is a high-speed, fiber optic network that combines supercomputing resources around the state through its research universities. TeraGrid is the backbone of U.S. cyberinfrastructure, combining resources from 11 partner sites around the country, including LONI.
Liu began his role as HPC Director in November 2008. He has a Ph.D. in chemical engineering from LSU, a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from Xi'an Jiaotong University in China and two master’s degrees in chemical engineering from Tianjin University, also in China, and LSU.
For more information on HPC at LSU, please visit http://www.hpc.lsu.edu/ .