research

In this guest post, Sultana Nahar, Ph.D., writes about how OSC resources helped her teach an atomic astrophysics workshop at Cairo University in Egypt recently. Nahar has been involved in the promotion of physics research and education in developing countries for many years and OSC has worked to help facilitate many of her workshops. 

Members of the Ohio Supercomputer Center have been attending the SC Conference since its inception in 1988. Quite simply, it's the premier event for the high performance computing community. And it provides incredible benefits to attendees, three of which stand out among the rest. 

The OhioLINK Electronic Journal Center (EJC) has undergone a rebuild in recent months and our new, upgraded version is slated to launch on Aug. 4, right around the corner. This new EJC will be a significant upgrade both in infrastructure and interface. The result is more accurate searching and an overall better experience for all of our users, as well as improved features for library staff who analyze and assess the content.  

As today, April 22, is Earth Day 2015, I wanted to take a moment to share some of my favorite stories that show how researchers are leveraging Ohio Supercomputer Center resources to better understand Mother Earth and mankind’s relationship with her.

In 1939, President Franklin Roosevelt established National Aviation Day, placing it in on the calendar to coincide with the birthday of Orville Wright on August 19. Orville and his brother Wilbur designed and built the Wright Flyer and in 1903 used it to perform “the world’s first controlled powered and sustained heavier-than-air human flight.”

I think I have the best job in America. I have the responsibility of leading the research enterprise of one of the largest universities in the U.S. – The Ohio State University. I oversee an organization that employs about 450 people who work in a variety of occupations, from climate modeler to computer scientist to fish hatchery education specialist.

The Blue Waters project, managed by the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA) at the University of Illinois, recently announced a unique fellowship program for doctoral students who can use the Blue Waters computing system to help complete their academic research. This may be the only National Science Foundation project that funds this type of opportunity. The Ohio Supercomputer Center is under contract with NCSA to manage the fellowship program.

The grand challenges we face in the 21^st century are monumental. Solving these important national and global problems will require creative new approaches in science and technology. But responding to these 21^st century challenges will prove even more difficult in light of the economic realities facing the nation and the world.