MRI: Acquisition of Futuro: A Data Intensive and High Performance Computing Cluster for Integrated Research and Education

The computing research instrument acquisition described here – of the Futuro computing cluster for interdisciplinary research projects and Computer Science (CS) education programs – seeks to lay the foundation for a strong research and education integration centered on CS at the University of Texas at Brownsville (UTB), a minority serving institution in the south Texas Rio Grande Valley, a historically underrepresented region with more than 90% Hispanics. The MRI investment will enable promising young investigators to greatly raise the stature of CS research at UTB and in the region, attract new sources of research support, and elevate CS education for Hispanic students to a competitive level.

The south Texas valley region has 9 higher education institutions, including research institutions UTB and UT Pan American (UTPA). However, the entire valley does not have a single up-to-date cluster. The current clusters at UTB and UTPA are decommissioned after years of intensive usage. Temporary “cluster” consisting of several PCs is set up to carry on our research projects, which is very limited and non-reliable. Futuro–to be acquired and operated by UTB and shared with UTPA–will serve as a laboratory in which: core research can be conducted at a world-class level; collaborations with on-campus domain sciences provide real-world test applications and expertise to drive significant advances in interdisciplinary research; and significant opportunities are made available to both undergraduates and graduates in CS and related disciplines.

The MRI is funded by NSF Award #0923456