CC* Regional Computing: Launch: Advancing Cyberinfrastructure at Minority Serving Institutions

Launch is a regional computational resource that supports researchers incorporating computational and data-enabled approaches in their scientific workflows at eleven under-resourced institutions in The Texas A&M University System. Employing established best-practices in cyberinfrastructure facilitation, Launch appeals to researchers engaged in multi-disciplinary projects at these under-resourced, albeit research-driven minority serving institutions.

Launch fosters a holistic cyberinfrastructure environment by developing pathways that connect researchers at these sites to computational resources and the necessary expertise to manage these resources by offering (i) easy access to computing resources, (ii) a seamless pathway to large-scale national computing resources, (iii) a managed interdisciplinary software environment, (iv) available expertise in domain-specific computational avenues of research, (v) a training program that teaches researchers how to effectively use computing approaches, and (vi) tools that alleviate the complexity of using computing resources. Launch develops regional expertise in cyberinfrastructure management by employing a collaborative model that bootstraps existing computational expertise with burgeoning campus-level efforts.

Launch accelerates research workflows utilizing numerical simulation, interactive computing, and artificial intelligence/machine learning frameworks, while simultaneously bolstering nascent Data Science programs across these institutions. Launch plans to host the latest generation of Intel processors, multi-precision NVIDIA multi-precision GPUs, and large memory nodes.

These technologies are coupled with state-of-the-art open-source software, to offer a rich computing environment that offers interactive computing environments, web-accessible portals, and intuitive containerization and workflow management support. Leveraging Partnerships with several large National Science Foundation-funded cyberinfrastructure programs, Launch ensures that researchers will have multiple avenues to “launch” onto larger, more complex regional and national platforms.

Institutions included in this project include Texas A&M University in College Station, Prairie View A&M University, Texas A&M Corpus Christi, West Texas A&M University, Texas A&M International, Texas A&M San Antonio, Texas A&M Kingsville, Texas A&M Texarkana, Tarleton State University, Texas A&M University Commerce, and Texas A&M Central Texas.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.