Elizabeth Leake, director of Research Computing Services, delivered a presentation for Westnet detailing a National Science Foundation grant to support an international supercomputing workshop. Leake also announced a new initiative involving Boise State and Stillwater Supercomputing to support a global research computing and data workforce. WestNet is a nonprofit education and research consortium composed of higher education, research, and government organizations in Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming.
Leake’s grant provided funding for scientists (meteorologists, system administrators and trainees) to share edge-related challenges with computation and processing issues and discuss recommendations and solutions with an international collective of experts at a workshop in November 2022.
Boise State’s collaboration with Stillwater Supercomputing, known as “Isango,” was presented as a package of training initiatives and advanced user support to help prepare future generations of research computing and data professionals and create a global community of practice. Representatives of the National Center for Supercomputing Applications and Massachusetts Institution of Technology are also involved in the Isango effort.
The project also includes plans for a second life serving startups, defense and industry applications with a percentage of sales returned to Boise State to sustain the program’s future.