HPCwire: Northern Kentucky University Breaks Ground on High-Tech Center

The Leading Source for Global News and Information Covering the Ecosystem of High Productivity Computing

HPCwire >> Topic >> Systems

June 09, 2009

Northern Kentucky University Breaks Ground on High-Tech Center

Page: 1 of 2
1 | 2 All »

Center creates information-intense business opportunities

HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky., June 9 -- Northern Kentucky University broke ground recently on a new, $55 million, ultra high-tech Center for Informatics that will house the university's new College of Informatics, which combines all information-related disciplines under one college. The center, largely funded with state dollars, will be built to provide the ultimate intersection of education and economic development, and is a key strategy for the region's 2015 goal to create 50,000 new jobs.

The center, expected to drive information-related business growth within the region, will house some of the most advanced technology in the Midwest region. The facility will feature a Computer Assisted Virtual Environment (CAVE) that will be available for businesses to use for product development. While several large corporations boast their own CAVEs for research and development, the CAVE located at NKU's Center for Informatics will be one of only a few CAVEs available for public use in the world. With the help of federal funding secured by Senator Mitch McConnell (R_KY), the Center will also boast a Digitorum that will be capable of running complex simulations in homeland security, computer security and financial security. It will also support other industries. The Digitorium can double as a Network Operations Center (NOC) that will allow broad use by a variety of private and government sectors.

The facility is being designed by Goody Clancy, which has designed stunning university buildings throughout the United States, including on the campuses of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the University of Michigan, Harvard University and the University of Chicago.

"I am often asked, 'Just what exactly is informatics, anyway?'" NKU Dean of Informatics Dr. Douglas Perry told a group that included Kentucky Governor Stephen Beshear and leaders of two of the world's most respected tech companies -- Dell and SAP Public Services. "Informatics is the digital intersection of the arts, sciences and professions, where digital tools are used to extend these fields and bring them together. Informatics achieves this by developing and applying the theories and technologies of computation, information, and communication to new situations and environments."

Frank Muehleman, vice president and general manager, Dell North America Public Business Group, said the Center's impact will be felt for generations. "The Center for Informatics at NKU exemplifies how business and academia can partner to maximize the impact of technology on student learning and achievement," Muehleman said. "The Center's progressive model, coupled with a fully integrated curriculum and mobile technologies, will help prepare NKU students to compete and excel in a global workforce."

"The digital technology incorporated into this stunning building -- most notably the Digitorium -- will bring informatics to our students through demonstration, development, collaboration, simulation, representation and performance," Dr. Perry said. "The Center for Informatics will be an entirely new environment in which students can learn, grow and play in the best sense of the word.

"But there is more," Dr. Perry continued. "By intentional design, the Center for Informatics will transcend the College of Informatics. Its facilities will be available to the larger university to enhance and extend the expression of the tremendous pool of talent on campus. But it won't stop there. The Center for Informatics will be a natural attractor to the community at large, providing a new venue for engagement. Companies can partner with our Infrastructure Management Institute to make use of our unique facilities to develop products and foster new business. Residents can come to be enlightened, enriched and entertained. Professionals can convene to enhance their skills and expand their network."

Steve Hunt, CEO and partner of CIO Partner, Inc., in Fairfax, Va., said the new NKU Center will be a key tool in the development of the next generation workforce in the technology sector. "If you are a junior or senior in high school and are interested in an informatics-related field, then the College of Informatics at Northern Kentucky University is the place for you," Hunt said. "NKU's current curriculum in media informatics, healthcare informatics, Web 2.0, iPhone development, SAP/ERP and business intelligence and analytics demonstrate that the College intends to stay current and, in fact, stay on the cutting edge of business requirements for workforce talent. With this curricular experience at NKU and the unique and applied nature of the program, [students] will maximize their ability to enter and be successful in a competitive workforce for the 21st century."

In addition to being home to some of the most advanced digital technology available, the Center for Informatics will be the first "green" building on NKU's campus, having been designed for LEED Silver certification. To learn more about the facility, visit http://informatics.nku.edu/building/index.html.

Page: 1 of 2
1 | 2 All »

Article Tools

Share Options

(Digg, Technorati, more)

Subscribe

Subscribe to HPCwire

Discussion

There are 0 discussion items posted.

Join the Discussion

You must be a registered user in order to comment on HPCwire stories.

Members enjoy:

	Access to Special Content, including Podcasts, Webcasts, and Whitepapers and more!
	Ability to take an active role in the discussions that are shaping the HPC technology discipline!
	Special offers available only to HPCwire members!

Become a Registered User Today!

Registered Users Log in Here to Comment

Email Address:	Password (case sensitive)

Remember me	Forgot Password?

RSS Feeds

Feeds by Topic

Feeds by Industry

Feeds by Content Type

Feature Articles

The Week in Review

C-DAC announces plans for a petaflop system; IBM researchers are working on vertical integration techniques to extend Moore's Law another 15 years. We recap those stories and more in our weekly wrapup.
Read More...

Moscow State University Supercomputer Has Petaflop Aspirations

The Moscow State University supercomputer, Lomonosov, has been selected for a high-performance makeover, with the goal of tripling its processing power to achieve petaflop-level performance in 2010. T-Platforms, who developed and manufactured the supercomputer, is the odds-on favorite to lead the project.
Read More...

Intel Ups Performance Ante with Westmere Server Chips

Right on schedule, Intel has launched its Xeon 5600 processors, codenamed "Westmere EP." The 5600 represents the 32nm sequel to the Xeon 5500 (Nehalem EP) for dual-socket servers. Intel is touting better performance and energy efficiency, along with new security features, as the big selling points of the new Xeons.
Read More...

Read more HPCwire features...

Top Headlines

Intel Partners See 'Easy' Upgrade Path With Xeon 5600 Chips

Mar 18 | ChannelWeb | Westmere parts already showing up in HPC machines. Read more...

AMD: OEMs primed for Opteron 6100s

Mar 17 | The Register | But what about the tier ones? Read more...

Arrival of the Desktop Supercomputer

Mar 17 | Cadalyst Magazine | A new generation of workstations is changing the nature of technical computing. Read more...

Scheduling HPC In The Cloud

Mar 17 | Linux Magazine | Latest iteration of Sun Grid Engine able to tap into Cloud. Read more...

Tailoring Medicine with Supercomputers

Mar 16 | Bio-IT World | Biotech firm builds genetic models from patient data. Read more...

Read more headlines...

Featured Whitepapers

Virtualization for Aggregation And The vSMP Architecture™

Jan 12 | | In-depth look at vSMP Foundation server virtualization technology, technical implementation, use cases and capabilities. The technical whitepaper provides an architectural overview and details on the three vSMP Foundation products: vSMP Foundation for SMP, vSMP Foundation for Cluster and vSMP Foundation for Cloud.

Copper Cable Technologies for High Performance Computing

Jan 18 | | This white paper discusses Gore’s copper cable assemblies, and how they continue to exceed the standards for providing reliable, cost-effective solutions for high-performance computer applications.

View the White Paper Library

Multimedia

Webcast: Virtualized Data Center Roundtable

Join this online panel discussion for live Q&A with leading industry experts, analysts, and end-users to discuss the latest innovations, best practices, barriers to implementation, and measurable benefits of server virtualization with a particular focus on today's real world solutions.

Webcast: Watch SC09 Birds of a Feather Video: Scalable Fault-Tolerant HPC Supercomputers

Learn about scalable fault-tolerant architectures and examples of energy efficient and scalable supercomputing clusters using dual QDR InfiniBand to combine capacity computing with network failover capabilities with the help of programming languages such as MPI and a robust Linux cluster management package.

Webcast: High Performance Computing for a Smarter Planet

LIVE@SCO9: The IBM team discusses new innovations in hardware, software and services that help clients better understand their workloads and get insight from their R&D efforts. Technology demonstrations include the soon-to-be-released Power7 HPC processor, the DCS990 system with 2.4 petabytes of storage, the xCAT management tool, secure HPC cloud computing and more. Winners of two HPCwire Readers' and Editors’ Choice Awards! Take the IBM virtual tour at SC09 or more information go online to: http://www-03.ibm.com/systems/deepcomputing/sc09.html