Center for Computation & Technology

Center for Computation & Technology
Name	Center for Computation & Technology
Established	2002
Type	Interdisciplinary research center
Director	J. "Ram" Ramanujam
City	Baton Rouge
State	Louisiana
Country	United States
Campus	Louisiana State University
Affiliations	Louisiana State University, Louisiana Board of Regents
Website	http://www.cct.lsu.edu

Center for Computation & Technology is an interdisciplinary research center at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge. Established in 2002, it serves as a hub for computational science, fostering collaboration between researchers in fields like computer science, engineering, physical sciences, and the arts. The center's mission is to advance computational research, develop cutting-edge cyberinfrastructure, and train the next generation of computational scientists. It operates as a key component of Louisiana's strategy to build a knowledge-based economy through high-performance computing and advanced networking.

History and mission

The center was founded in 2002 with initial support from the Louisiana Board of Regents through the Information Technology Initiative. Its creation was part of a broader state effort, following investments in the National Science Foundation's EPSCoR program, to enhance research and development infrastructure in Louisiana. The founding director was Thomas Sterling, a pioneer in parallel computing and co-inventor of the Beowulf cluster. The core mission has consistently focused on leveraging advanced computation as a cross-cutting tool for discovery, aiming to solve complex problems that span traditional academic boundaries. This involves close partnerships with other units at Louisiana State University, national laboratories like Los Alamos National Laboratory and Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and industry partners.

Research areas and projects

Research is organized around several interdisciplinary groups and projects. Major areas include computational fluid dynamics, with applications to coastal modeling and hurricane storm surge prediction in collaboration with the Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority. Another significant focus is digital media, including computer music, digital art, and virtual reality, often utilizing the center's own audiovisual research software. The computational materials science group works on problems in nanotechnology and condensed matter physics. The center also hosts major projects funded by agencies such as the National Science Foundation and the Department of Energy, involving large-scale data analytics, machine learning, and next-generation high-performance computing system software.

Facilities and resources

The center manages and provides access to significant computational resources, primarily housed at the main Louisiana State University campus. A cornerstone is the SuperMIC and HPC clusters, which provide teraflop-level computing power for researchers across the state. It also operates specialized labs such as the Virtual Reality Cave Automatic Virtual Environment and the Digital Art studios. The center is a primary node for the Louisiana Optical Network Initiative, a high-speed fiber-optic network connecting research institutions statewide. These facilities support a wide array of work, from simulating astrophysical phenomena to rendering complex 3D computer graphics for cinematic production.

Organizational structure

The center is led by a director, currently J. "Ram" Ramanujam, who oversees its research and administrative functions. It is organized not into traditional departments, but into interdisciplinary research groups and "thrust areas" led by faculty fellows from various Louisiana State University colleges. Core research staff include scientific computing specialists, software engineers, and systems administrators who support the computational infrastructure. The center maintains a collaborative governance model, with guidance from an internal executive committee and external advisory boards comprising representatives from academia, federal agencies, and industry partners like IBM and NVIDIA.

Educational programs and outreach

While not a degree-granting body, the center plays a vital role in graduate and postgraduate education. It hosts numerous postdoctoral researchers and provides research assistantships for PhD students from partnering departments such as Computer Science and Electrical Engineering. The center runs regular workshops and training sessions on parallel programming, scientific visualization, and data science. A key outreach program is the Louisiana Alliance for Simulation-Guided Materials Applications, which partners with Xavier University of Louisiana and other institutions to increase participation in computational science among underrepresented groups. It also engages with K-12 education through summer camps and demonstrations.

Notable achievements and impact

Researchers have contributed to significant advancements, including improved predictive models for Gulf of Mexico hurricanes and coastal land loss, directly impacting state policy. In digital media, projects have received recognition at festivals like SIGGRAPH and collaborations with the Louisiana Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism. The center's software contributions, such as the OpenMP runtime for many-core processors and the Lustre parallel file system tools, are used worldwide in high-performance computing. Its work has bolstered Louisiana State University's standing in the High Performance Computing community, attracting sustained funding from the National Institutes of Health, the Department of Defense, and the Department of Homeland Security.

Category:Research institutes in Louisiana Category:Louisiana State University Category:High-performance computing Category:2002 establishments in Louisiana