National Center for Supercomputing Applications: Difference between revisions
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== History == |
== History == |
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[[Image:Mosaic browser plaque ncsa.jpg|thumb|right|220px|A plaque commemorating the creation of Mosaic web browser, in front of the new NCSA building]] |
[[Image:Mosaic browser plaque ncsa.jpg|thumb|right|220px|A plaque commemorating the creation of Mosaic web browser, in front of the new NCSA building]] |
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See the history of NCSA's inception, growth and overall impact on science and engineering in its 20-year history [http://www.ncsa.uiuc.edu/20years/ here]. |
NCSA opened its doors to the national scientific computing community in January 1986. Since then, the bottom line has always been helping researchers get their work done and propelling science toward its next discovery. See the history of NCSA's inception, growth and overall impact on science and engineering in its 20-year history [http://www.ncsa.uiuc.edu/20years/ here]. |
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=== Mosaic === |
=== Mosaic === |
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The [[Mosaic (web browser)|Mosaic web browser]], the first graphical [[Web browser]] which played an important part in expanding the growth of the [[World Wide Web]] and the [[Internet]], was written by [[Marc Andreessen]] and [[Eric Bina]] at NCSA |
The [[Mosaic (web browser)|Mosaic web browser]], the first graphical [[Web browser]] which played an important part in expanding the growth of the [[World Wide Web]] and the [[Internet]], was written by [[Marc Andreessen]] and [[Eric Bina]] at NCSA. Andreesen and Bina went on to develop the [[Netscape]] Web browser. Mosaic was later licensed to [[Spyglass]] who provided the foundation for [[Internet Explorer]]. |
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=== Iraq Video Conferencing === |
=== Iraq Video Conferencing === |
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=== Thom Dunning, Director === |
=== Thom Dunning, Director === |
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[http://www.ncsa.uiuc.edu/AboutUs/Leadership/dunning.html Thom Dunning], the Director of NCSA, has a long list of achievements and leadership positions within different technological groups across the country. Dunning studied as an undergraduate at the [[University of Missouri–Rolla]], a well-known engineering school and went on to earn a [[PhD]] at the [[California Institute of Technology]]. He later went on to work at the [[University of Tennessee]], the [[Oak Ridge National Laboratory]], the [[University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill]], the [[United States Department of Energy]] and the [[Argonne National Laboratory]]. |
[http://www.ncsa.uiuc.edu/AboutUs/Leadership/dunning.html Thom Dunning], the Director of NCSA, has a long list of achievements and leadership positions within different technological groups across the country. Dunning studied as an undergraduate at the [[University of Missouri–Rolla]], a well-known engineering school, and went on to earn a [[PhD]] at the [[California Institute of Technology]]. He later went on to work at the [[University of Tennessee]], the [[Oak Ridge National Laboratory]], the [[University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill]], the [[United States Department of Energy]] and the [[Argonne National Laboratory]]. |
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== Private business partners == |
== Private business partners == |
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Revision as of 22:56, 7 November 2006
| Director | Thom Dunning |
|---|---|
| Website | ncsa.uiuc.edu |
The National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA) is one of five original centers in the National Science Foundation's Supercomputer Centers Program and a unit of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The center was founded when a group of UIUC faculty, led by Larry Smarr, sent an unsolicited proposal to the NSF in 1983; the NSF announced funding for the supercomputer centers in 1985. The first supercomputer at the Center came online in January 1986.
Initially, NCSA's administrative offices were housed in the Water Resources Building. NCSA is now headquartered within its own building after being scattered around the campus of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, although it was chiefly at The Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology. The new NCSA Building is directly north of the Siebel Center for Computer Science. The Center's array of supercomputers remains housed at the Advanced Computation Building.
NCSA works with universities and colleges, government agencies, private-sector companies and schools to discover the benefits of cyberinfrastructure in the community. The National Science Foundation, the state of Illinois, the University of Illinois, industrial partners, and other federal agencies support NCSA. In broad terms, NCSA fulfills a responsibility in providing cyber-resources, as well as deploying cyberenvironments and innovative computing systems.
Supercomputing capabilities
NCSA houses multiple supercomputing systems, several with top-20 rankings in their computation speed. As of July 2004, NCSA's Tungsten computing system was the fifth fastest computer in the world, with a peak performance of 15.3 teraflops (15.3 trillion floating point operations per second).
History
NCSA opened its doors to the national scientific computing community in January 1986. Since then, the bottom line has always been helping researchers get their work done and propelling science toward its next discovery. See the history of NCSA's inception, growth and overall impact on science and engineering in its 20-year history here.
Mosaic
The Mosaic web browser, the first graphical Web browser which played an important part in expanding the growth of the World Wide Web and the Internet, was written by Marc Andreessen and Eric Bina at NCSA. Andreesen and Bina went on to develop the Netscape Web browser. Mosaic was later licensed to Spyglass who provided the foundation for Internet Explorer.
Iraq Video Conferencing
NCSA recently helped families of U.S. soldiers stationed in Iraq reach their loved ones. NCSA provided the high tech video conferencing service free to local families. [1]
Movies/Visualization
NCSA's visualization department is maybe the most well-known sector around the country and world. They have made movies using the supercomputers - one of which was shown on PBS' show NOVA.
Thom Dunning, Director
Thom Dunning, the Director of NCSA, has a long list of achievements and leadership positions within different technological groups across the country. Dunning studied as an undergraduate at the University of Missouri–Rolla, a well-known engineering school, and went on to earn a PhD at the California Institute of Technology. He later went on to work at the University of Tennessee, the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the United States Department of Energy and the Argonne National Laboratory.
Private business partners
Companies that have done business with NCSA include[1] :
- Allstate
- AT&T
- AMR
- Boeing
- Caterpillar Inc.
- Dell Inc.
- Dow Chemical
- Eastman Kodak
- Eli Lilly and Company
- Exxon Mobil
- FMC Corporation
- IBM
- JP Morgan
- Motorola
- Microsoft
- Phillips Petroleum Company
- Schlumberger
- Sears, Roebuck and Company
- Tribune Company
- United Technologies
See also
- Cyberinfrastructure
- NCSA Telnet
- NCSA HTTPd
- The Beckman Institute
- Coordinated Sciences Laboratory
- University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign