The College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics will celebrate the opening of Cal State Fullerton’s second supercomputer, ushering in an exciting era of advanced research for students, faculty and staff.
The new high-performance computing cluster, nicknamed “Turing” after English mathematician Alan Turing, will be part of the Center for Computational and Applied Mathematics.
CSUF’s first high-performance computing cluster, named “Kepler,” opened in 2015, but in the name of advancement and new technology, Sam Behseta, professor of mathematics and director of CCAM, said that Turing is a crucial upgrade.
“If we categorize the main functionalities of any computer through its capacity for data and information storage – its efficiency in terms of data processing and computing, and its capability in creating crisp, quick and precise outputs of the computing processes – then Turing outweighs Kepler in every single category,” said Behseta.
The new HPC cluster’s efficiency coupled with CCAM faculty’s diverse research topics will not only pave the way for advancement in a multitude of fields including biology, biochemistry, statistics and applied mathematics, but it will also meet the demands of modern scientific research, said Behseta.
The celebration for the new cluster will be held on March 4 in the Titan Student Union Alvarado Room at 11:30 a.m. The event will feature multiple speakers including Marie Johnson, dean of the College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics; Andrew Petit, professor of chemistry and biochemistry and chair of the CCAM’s Computation Committee; and Michael Groves, professor of chemistry and recipient of a 2021 National Science Foundation Career award.
“The new cluster will provide a historic opportunity for our students to directly participate in cutting-edge computational research programs of the faculty affiliated with CCAM,” said Behseta.
Johnson added that not only will the new cluster open doors for expanding current research, but it will support hands-on student learning and pave the way for a bright future of possibility in NSM.
“We are very proud of our CSUF and NSM commitment to research and advancing knowledge in our respective fields. The federal grant that Dr. Behseta and his team secured will significantly expand the high-performance computing resources of our campus facilitating the high level research of our faculty members and current and future students. And we are all looking forward to learning about what these NSMers discover next,” said Johnson.
To learn more about CCAM and the research being done with Turing, visit CCAM’s website.