The North Dakota Center for Computationally Assisted Science and Technology (CCAST) has recently joined two nationally distributed computing groups.
The program made national headlines as it joined national ranks by teaming with nationally distributed groups, or the Open Science Grid and Extreme Science and Engineering Discovery Environment, otherwise known as XSEDE.
The Center for Computationally Assisted Science and Technology is a high-powered research and computing center held within the NDSU Office of Research and Creative Activity. The program provides powerful internal infrastructure for the NDSU campus by engaging in computational scientific research across materials, genomics and energy, all of which are of top national priority.
NDSU is pleased to have joined national ranks and is excited for the potential benefits of doing so.
“The additional capacity we will gain as an Open Science Grid and XSEDE member organization will vastly increase power and variety of the computer-based computational tools we can offer to NDSU researchers,” center executive director Dane Skow said. He adds that the ultimate result will be a reduction in the amount of time required for computationally-intensive projects.
Kelly A. Rusch, vice president for Research and Creative Activity, adds that such agreements have benefits for researchers and potential partnership on a national level alike. “Since joining NDSU two months ago, Dr. Skow has had an immediate impact on CCAST,” Rusch said. “The experience he brings will continue to strengthen our leadership in regional supercomputer and processing capabilities.”
Benefits will reach local center users as well as they will benefit by having full access to additional processing power.
The Open Science Grid is a partnership of cyberinfrastructure resources across the United States that is designed solely to meet the needs of research needs for academic communities. The program is jointly funded by the Department of Energy and the National Science Foundation. XSEDE is a National Science Foundation-funded organization that coordinates the sharing of advanced digital services with leading science researcher.