National Partnership for Advanced Computational Infrastructure (NPACI)

Note: This project is no longer active. This page is retained for archival purposes only.

NPACI at Rice | Education, Outreach, Training |
NPACI homepage

The National Partnership for Advanced Computational Infrastructure (NPACI) project is similar to the NCSA PACI in that it is expected to have a life cycle of approximately ten years. Also like NCSA, participation will be beneficial to leveraging additional research projects in the future.

• NPACI at Rice

In this project, Rice University will be a partner of San Diego Supercomputer Center with participation taking two forms. First, in the area of scalable input/output, the goal is to develop software systems to optimize programs so they perform large-scale I/O much more efficiently. Ken Kennedy has developed preliminary techniques to automate some of the restructuring needed to accomplish this task. This research has led to the development of a prototype compiler system. Under the partnership Rice will further develop the prototype compiler and runtime system so that it will be suitable for evaluation of the software with real applications. In the longer term, HiPerSoft plans to transfer this technology to compiler vendors for incorporation into commercial products through Rice's industrial partners programs.

In the area of minority education, Richard Tapia will work with the NPACI and NCSA programs to establish nationally scaled efforts to increase the number of women and minorities in the engineering and computational sciences.

Education, Outreach, and Training

Richard Tapia of Rice University's Center for Excellence and Equity in Education heads up Rice's outreach efforts for both NPACI and NCSA. Dozens of partners across the country collaborate in this joint effort of both partnerships through the Education, Outreach, and Training Partnership for Advanced Computational Infrastructure. (EOT-PACI.) EOT-PACI's mission is to develop human resources to understand and solve problems through the innovative use of emerging information technologies. Tapia and Lanius work primarily to

• Increase participation by women and minorities in computational sciences
• Improve K-12 and Undergraduate science and mathematics "pipeline