New supercomputer unleashes 28.16 trillion calculations per second

Srinivas Aluru, left, and Steve Nystrom have worked for months to connect cables and cooling hoses and otherwise get Iowa State University's second supercomputer up to speed. Photo by Bob Elbert.

ECpE Professor Srinivas Aluru recently stepped between the two rows of six tall metal racks, opened up the silver doors, and showed off the 3,200 computer processor cores that power Cystorm, Iowa State University's second supercomputer. Cystorm, a Sun Microsystems machine, boasts a peak performance of 28.16 trillion calculations per second. That's five times the peak of CyBlue, an IBM Blue Gene/L supercomputer that's been on campus since early 2006. Cystorm will help Iowa State researchers advance their work in materials science, power systems, and systems biology. It is also earning Iowa State recognition as a Sun Microsystems Center of Excellence in Engineering Informatics and Systems Biology. (News release)

Incoming students complete SPEED

Twenty-two incoming students successfully completed the 2009 Summer Program to Enhance Engineering Development (SPEED) sponsored by Engineering Diversity Affairs. Components of the eight-week program included academic preparation for calculus, physics, and engineering 160; industrial visits to John Deere, Pella Windows, and Rockwell Collins; departmental lab experiences where a faculty member demonstrated his or her field of study through a hands-on activity or presentation; active learning workshops to familiarize the students with resources within the college such as résumé building, workforce preparation, and study abroad opportunities, as well as university wide resources; and acclimation activities to help students create peer and professional networks. If you have questions about the program or would like to be involved next summer, please contact Lindsey Long at lindseyl@iastate.edu or 294-4042. (Photo and participant list)

Governor visits Iowa State as part of renewable energy tour

Iowa Governor Chet Culver visits the Microelectronics Research Center.

During a tour of renewable energy projects in the state, Iowa Governor Chet Culver stopped by Iowa State University on August 5 to learn more about the university's research projects supported by the Iowa Power Fund. Vikram Dalal, Thomas M. Whitney Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, is leading one of two Iowa Power Fund projects on campus. Governor Culver visited Dalal's labs at the Microelectronics Research Center, learning about how researchers are working to increase the efficiency of thin film solar cells for homes and buildings. (News release)

Grewell awarded Grow Iowa Values Fund grant

	Grewell

David Grewell, ABE assistant professor, was awarded one of seven new Grow Iowa Values Fund grants at Iowa State for his work in high-powered ultrasonics. The goal of the grants is to support development of technologies with commercial potential and to support the growth of companies using those technologies. (News release)

New videos on the homepage

Check out the two featured videos on the College of Engineering homepage--Solar car team celebrates 20th anniversary and Two minutes with Song Zhang, ME assistant professor.

Ying wins young investigator award

Ying

Lei Ying, ECpE assistant professor, recently was awarded the Defense Threat Reduction Agency's (DTRA) Young Investigator Award to combat threats to communication networks. DTRA is a part of the U.S. Department of Defense and the U.S. Strategic Command, which is the intellectual, technical, and operational leader in the national effort to combat the weapons of mass destruction threat. Ying will receive $100,000 a year for two years to support his research of network robustness and performance limits when facing a severe loss of network knowledge. (News release)

Enhancing VRAC's haptic research capabilities

	Researchers use the new Virtuose 6D35-45, a haptic device that allows users to interact with product prototypes in a virtual environment

With a newly acquired haptic device, researchers at Iowa State's Virtual Reality Applications Center (VRAC) are enhancing the process for designing products in a virtual environment. The Virtuose 6D35-45, a haptic device commercially developed by HAPTION, will allow Judy Vance, professor of mechanical engineering, and others to more realistically simulate product weight and contact forces while manipulating digitally displayed product models. (News release)

ISU vs. Iowa pre-game event planned

Join College of Engineering alumni and friends for a special celebration the night before the Iowa State versus Iowa football game. This inaugural Iowa Bash will be Friday, September 11, from 5:30-8:30 p.m. at the Iowa House Bed and Breakfast, 405 Hayward, Ames. Come and enjoy barbeque from Buford's, wine tasting, specialty beers, prizes including tickets to the ISU versus Iowa football game, and lots of good fun. Tickets are $20 per person in advance and $25 at the door.

Contact Kristin Littlejohn, 515-520-1045, or Linda Kelley, 515-294-6969 with any questions. Please RSVP by September 4.

College advances in U.S. News rankings

Iowa State University is again among the top one-fourth of all public national universities in the 2010 "America’s Best Colleges" annual rankings by U.S. News & World Report. The College of Engineering tied for 22nd among public universities' undergraduate engineering programs. (News release)

Mark your calendars!

August 26--College of Engineering Convocation and Reception, 3:10-5 p.m., Howe Hall Alliant Energy-Lee Liu Auditorium

August 29--Tour the Iowa State solar house, 2-5 p.m., 1220 Southern Hills Drive (off of S. Riverside Drive and Airport Road), Ames

September 2--Welcome reception for new graduate students, 5:30-7 p.m., Howe Hall Atrium

September 4--RSVP due for ISU vs. Iowa pre-game Iowa Bash

September 8--"Tour The World" Engineering Study & Work Abroad Fair, 5:30-7 p.m., Howe Hall Atrium

E-News is distributed by Engineering Communications.
If you have questions or news items to suggest, please contact Mary Jo Glanville at mglanvil@iastate.edu or call 515 294-8787.


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