The SEAS High-Performance Computing Program

In the area of high-performance computing (HPC) and high-performance reconfigurable computing (HPRC)-also known as supercomputing-SEAS is one of the nation's leaders. HPC and HPRC are used to run very advanced scientific and engineering applications that standard computers simply cannot handle. They have traditionally been used for very large simulations of everything from global climate modeling and the design of space shuttles and aircrafts to the simulation of car crashes and nuclear explosions.

According to Professor Tarek El-Ghazawi, these technologies show promise in a number of fields, such as security, remote sensing, image processing, and bioinformatics-where DNA matching and protein sequencing require the kind of computer power that high-performance reconfigurable computing can provide. "Eventually, supercomputers will be used more widely in day-to-day products and in the entertainment industry," says Professor El-Ghazawi. "We also expect to see more of them in financial markets, hospitals, and other businesses that require heavy transaction processing or that maintain massive data warehouses of complex formats and that require data mining."

In 2006, GW and the University of Florida founded the Center for High-Performance Reconfigurable Computing (CHREC), a national center and consortium for HPCR research, created under the auspices of the National Science Foundation (NSF) Industry/University Centers program. It is funded by an NSF grant that provides seed money, as well as by membership fees from participating governmental agencies and private companies. More recently, two sites for the center, one at Brigham Young University and the other at Virginia Tech University, were added to CHREC.

Professor El-Ghazawi's work at GW started with the High-Performance Computing Lab (HPCL), which he and his students built. Over the years, the HPCL has provided an umbrella for the research projects they have undertaken in HPC and HPRC. They have put together a unique, top-quality set of equipment in the HPCL, and because of this, the students have been able to study very important problems in the HPC field. Professor El-Ghazawi believes that this creates a tremendous advantage for them. Many of his students have had internships at companies such as Silicon Graphics or at very prestigious government labs, so they have established important professional contacts that help them when they graduate. In fact, says Professor El-Ghazawi, "CHREC itself almost provides an in-house internship, if you will, for all of our students, where basically they interact on a daily basis with the top leaders in industry and government in these areas. In many cases, we've even had companies come and tell us, "We need that particular student to come work for us.'"