National Science Foundation gives grant to APSU
The National Science Foundation (NSF) recently approved a federal grant to fund a
high-performance computer cluster to support multidisciplinary research at Austin
Peay State University.
Totaling $176,177, the NSF project will be led by Dr. Alex King, associate professor
of physics and principal investigator. Dr. Jaime Taylor, professor of physics and
chair of the department of physics and astronomy, will serve as co-principle investigator.
The National Science Foundation (NSF) recently approved a federal grant to fund a
high-performance computer cluster to support multidisciplinary research at Austin
Peay State University.
Totaling $176,177, the NSF project will be led by Dr. Alex King, associate professor
of physics and principal investigator. Dr. Jaime Taylor, professor of physics and
chair of the department of physics and astronomy, will serve as co-principle investigator.
In Fall 2006, King and Taylor were applauded nationally for developing physics courses
that innovatively integrate computing. From more than 250 entries, they were one of
four winners in an initiative by Computing in Science and Engineering (CiSE) magazine.
The paper they co-authored, 鈥淐omputation in Undergraduate Physics Courses,鈥 was published
in CiSE.
Working with them are six senior investigators: Dr. Kevin Schultz, assistant professor,
and Dr. Allyn Smith, associate professor, both in the department of astronomy and
physics; Dr. Rebecca Jones, assistant professor of chemistry; Dr. William (Bud) Glunt,
professor, and Dr. Sam Jator, associate professor, both in the department of mathematics;
and Dr. Jim Vandergriff, associate professor of computer science.
鈥淲e're excited about the grant,鈥 King said. 鈥淚t's the largest pure research grant
we've ever gotten in physics.鈥 In reality, during the past 10 years, APSU has received
only two National Science Foundation grants, totaling about $33,000.
According to King, the grant will fund a high-performance computing-cluster facility,
consisting of 16 dual-core, dual-processor machinesmaking a total of 64 processor
cores.
The facility will support research in such diverse areas as variable stars, protein
folding, atomic physics, structural engineering, numerical solution of high-order
differential equations and optimization of linear systems of equations.
King said, 鈥淎ll of these projects will include student researchers, and the experience
acquired by faculty and student investigators will allow them to bring a new perspective
into the classroom in advanced courses like Computational Methods, Applied Mathematics
and Differential Equations.鈥
To be housed in the Sundquist Science Building, the facility will support classroom
learning, with two weeks of computer time on the cluster per semester designated for
undergraduate projects associated with coursework.
King said, 鈥淭his will allow students to gain parallel processor computing experience
through capstone projects in the computational methods, mathematics and computer science
classes.鈥
Besides providing exceptional experiences for APSU students and faculty, Taylor points
out that the cluster complements the new Governor's School in Computational Physics
at APSU.
For more information, contact King by telephone at (931) 221-6102 or by e-mail at
kinga@apsu.edu. -- Dennie B. Burke