Utilization of ASA Supercomputers

The supercomputers at the Alabama Supercomputer Center (ASC) are used for two main activities. The first is to perform college course work. The second is for academic research.

Students utilize these computer systems in developing skills in many computing related fields. This creates a pool of potential employees for industries such as modeling and simulation, or computer programming. Alabama has a large presence in these fields and continues to see economic growth in these areas.

Non-research course work usage of the supercomputers is typically through classes being taught at the public universities in Alabama. Students enrolled in these classes will be issued an account on which to perform their assigned class work. Some of the courses that have utilized the present high performance computing systems are listed in the following table.

University Professor Course Name
Alabama A&M University Dr. Al-Sharaeh Parallel Programming and Networking
Alabama A&M University Dr. Atluri Java Programming
Alabama A&M University Dr. Deng Turbine Design
Alabama A&M University Dr. Scott High Performance Computing
Alabama A&M University Dr. Scott Numerical Methods
Alabama A&M University Dr. Ghanbari Computer Science
Alabama A&M University Dr. Scott Parallel Programming
Alabama A&M University Dr. Kim Special Topics in Chemistry
Auburn University Dr. Acevedo Computational Chemistry
Auburn University Dr. Carlisle Parallel Programming
Auburn University Dr. Lee Parallel Processing
Auburn University Dr. Livant Computational Chemistry
Auburn University Dr. Meir Mathematical Computation
Auburn University Dr. Lee High Performance Computing
Auburn University Dr. McKee Computational Inorganic Chemistry
Gaussian Inc. Dr. Frisch Gaussian Workshop
University of Alabama Dr. Dixon Honors Computational Research
University of Alabama Dr. Zeiler Structural Dynamics Modeling
University of Alabama Dr. Jackson Finite Element Modeling (graduate & undergrad)
University of Alabama Dr. Turner Chemical Engineering Simulations
University of Alabama at Birmingham Dr. Bangalore Parallel Programming
University of Alabama at Birmingham Dr. Kim Mechanical Engineering
University of Alabama in Huntsville Dr. Jarem Electromagnetics
University of Alabama in Huntsville Dr. Wells Parallel Programming
University of Alabama in Huntsville Dr. Jarem Analytical and Computational Methods
University of Alabama in Huntsville Dr. Chung Computational Fluid Dynamics
University of Alabama in Huntsville Dr. Wessling Finite Element Analysis

The other major type of supercomputer use is for academic research. These are research projects, typically performed by students pursuing masters or doctoral level degrees. These degrees train researchers to develop new products and technological advances. As part of the their education, students will be assigned to perform a major research project. Some of the fields that utilize ASC's high performance computing facilities most heavily are as follows.

There are also some fields that utilize high performance computing to a lesser extent. These include music, business, and psychology. There is also some supercomputer usage by commercial clients that have paid for computing time.

The Alabama Supercomputer Authority makes high performance computing systems available to support all of these activities. This gives Alabama residents a better education, and higher earning potential. The availability of skilled works is in turn a factor in attracting new industry and jobs to Alabama.