Purdue, IU consortium aims to drive new era for research, education online
Friday, 13 February 2009 12:00
A powerful Web platform that allows scientists to share research modeling tools, presentations and experimental findings is the focus of a new partnership between Purdue and Indiana universities.
Purdue is launching a consortium for joint development of the platform, called HUBzero, originally created by Purdue researchers. Gerry McCartney, Purdue's vice president for information technology and chief information officer, told the university's trustees on Friday (Feb. 13) that IU will be the consortium's first member.
"We expect the HUBzero consortium will include universities from across North America in the coming months," McCartney said. "We're pleased that our neighbor and close research partner IU is the first member."
Cyberinfrastructure is the software that connects people to computing resources and to one another online. HUBzero provides a way to host simulation tools and other educational and research resources, making them as effortless to access as a Web page. It also gives researchers immediate access to national supercomputing resources via the National Science Foundation's TeraGrid.
Hubs using the technology are far more than information repositories, said Michael McLennan, senior research scientist and hub technology architect at Purdue. HUBzero enables users to work together as they interact with content and employ interactive simulation tools.