SCIENCE

The Ohio Supercomputer Center (OSC) has signed a collaboration agreement with the Procter & Gamble Company, enabling the two to work together on modeling and simulation projects aimed at accelerating innovation collaboration between industry and academia. The collaboration is the first at The Ohio State University enacted under P&G's master alliance agreement with Ohio colleges and universities.

Procter & Gamble (P&G) uses computer modeling and simulation techniques in the research and development of many of its leading commercial brands, which include Tide, Pampers Pringles, Dawn, Downy and Mr. Clean. The company has used supercomputers to create higher speed production lines for its Pringles potato crisps; improve the quality of its diapers; and develop detergent with more soapsuds.

"Ohio State works hard to develop industry-academic partnerships that drive the state's economic competitiveness to new heights," said Caroline Whitacre, vice president for research at Ohio State. "Having the innovative resources of the Ohio Supercomputer Center located at Ohio State and being able to help drive research innovation at an industry powerhouse such as P&G are the types of collaboration we seek to foster."

Under the terms of the two-year master alliance agreement, the OSC will provide P&G with access to the center's computational systems and collaboration on modeling and simulation projects. OSC's IBM "Glenn" Cluster flagship system features 9,500 cores, 24 terabytes of memory and a peak computational capability of 75 teraflops.

"This critical partnership accelerates the innovation process so that we can propel better-designed products into the global marketplace," said Tom Lange, director of corporate research and development modeling and simulation at P&G. "This project is aimed at making us more competitive, while also providing significant benefit to the university community by furthering its educational and research objectives."

OSC's widely recognized industrial outreach program, Blue Collar Computing™, provides modeling, simulation and analysis resources to businesses, both large and small, to refine their products to a degree that could not be achieved with in-house resources. More than 30 large and small companies have used OSC computational facilities, hardware, software and expertise to stay competitive in the international marketplace.

"This noteworthy project is a natural extension of the strategic partnership that OSC has had with P&G for many years," said Ashok Krishnamurthy, interim co-executive director at OSC. "Along with supporting our Blue Collar Computing program, this collaboration will enhance our ability to better serve Ohio industry."

A master alliance agreement between the Ohio State and Cincinnati-based P&G simplifies the legal process that the company and university uses to negotiate research projects, allowing innovative ideas to come to fruition faster. The agreement enables P&G to tap into research activities at universities more quickly, and gives universities the ability to work on industry-specific products and processes.

As part of the agreement, OSU and P&G engage in a continuing program that encompasses research, education, service, task oriented and general program support projects. As stated in the initial agreement, OSU and P&G start with the master contract framework when considering a specific project and need only to negotiate the project's unique terms, such as scope of work and financial issues. This process helps enable faster collaboration, 12-18 months ahead of similarly positioned agreements with universities in other states.