Sept. 20, 2005

Media Contact: David Peregrino
Writer, University Communications
915/747-7507

UTEP Celebrates the Arrival of IBM Supercomputer to Support Academic Research

IBM eServer p5 590 adds to UTEP's high-performance computing systems

UTEP has taken delivery of its second IBM supercomputer, a new IBM eServer (TM) p5 590 that will significantly boost the university's high-performance computing capabilities.

The new computer, nicknamed Star, comes to the university as part of an IBM Shared University Research (SUR) award to support collaborative research between IBM and UTEP. The SUR award focuses on improving the performance of AIX and Linux operating systems on POWER5 (TM) processor systems while running real-time research applications in the areas of life sciences and bioinformatics.

UTEP will mark the arrival of the new machine with an event to thank IBM for its support beginning at 9:30 a.m. on Friday, Sept. 23 in the El Paso Natural Gas Conference Center on campus. The event, designed to highlight UTEP’s research with high performance computer systems, also will feature a student poster presentation and a fun Man vs. Machine chess competition from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the conference center.

Star will join another IBM eServer p4-690 machine, nicknamed Top Gun, which the university received in 2003 thanks to the IBM SUR award program.

“We are very grateful to IBM and its prestigious Shared University Research program, which has provided much-needed support for UTEP’s high-performance computing initiatives,” said UTEP President Diana Natalicio.

“Two years ago through the IBM SUR program, we celebrated the delivery of the high-performance computer Top Gun. Now, thanks again to IBM, we welcome Star, an even more powerful machine that will offer tremendous research opportunities for our students and faculty.”

The SUR award provided for a machine with 16 1.65 GHz processors, 16 GB of memory, and 1TB of disk storage. Associate Professor of Computer Science, Pat Teller, is generously using her recent UTEP Star research award to upgrade the machine to 24 1.65 GHz processors, 96 GB of memory and 2 TB of disk space.

This SUR project extends a successful 2003 SUR project that focused on improving the performance of AIX on an eServer p690 based on the real-time monitoring of applications. As part of that SUR award, the Top Gun supercomputer came to UTEP’s Computer Science Department to conduct research around transportation models and DNA sequences.

“IBM is pleased to collaborate with UTEP to provide students access to high performance computing power to conduct important research and prepare today’s students with skills for the jobs of tomorrow,” said Robert Amezcua, vice president, IBM Systems and Technology Group, pSeries. “Through collaboration with UTEP, we hope to drive innovation in the life sciences and bioinformatics fields as well as advance the performance of Power5 systems.”

IBM’s SUR program awards computing equipment (servers, storage systems, personal computing products) and services to colleges, universities and institutions of higher education around the world to facilitate research projects in areas of mutual interest, including: On Demand Computing Infrastructure, Exploratory Computing Technology, Business and Services Innovation, and Deep Computing. The SUR awards support the advancement of university projects by connecting top researchers in academia with IBM Research personnel, along with representatives from product development and solution provider communities. The SUR awards are complimentary to the IBM Academic Initiative, an innovative program offering a wide range of technology education benefits that meet the goals of most colleges and universities to develop skills and drive innovation.

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Media Note: UTEP and IBM officials will be available for interviews at 10 a.m., at the beginning of the student poster session and “Man vs. Machine” chess competition. The chess competition will make for a lively photo opportunity: several students will play chess simultaneously against an IBM eServer computer over UTEP’s high-speed network.