In recognition of the Cornell Theory Center's (CTC) contributions to the global research community since 1985 and its status as a center of excellence for Windows-based high-performance computing, the center will sponsor a variety of free events open to the public, culminating with a signature event on May 24, a symposium on "High-Performance Computing: Predictions and Visions for the Future."

"The resources at the Cornell Theory Center have been enabling groundbreaking research for 20 years," said Thomas F. Coleman, director of CTC. "Scientists and researchers have used the computational resources at CTC to study the human genome, stars imploding into black holes, proteins folding into structures that may offer insight into devastating diseases, the dynamics of ecosystems in an effort to protect the right whale population, the operational readiness of America's military and projects in almost every discipline at Cornell as well as research and development efforts in business, government, engineering, life sciences and education. From its founding as one of the National Science Foundation's first supercomputing centers, CTC has trailblazed paths in high-performance computing."

Anniversary events include:

• On April 20 from 1 to 6 p.m., CTC will host an open house (See sidebar below).
• On May 1, CTC will present "The Art of Computational Science: From Fractals to Functions," a small display at the Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art. In the museum's lobby, the display will feature two dozen colorful and bold visualizations illustrating research done with CTC resources. The display will be accompanied by a series of educational handouts for students in grades K-12.
  
• On May 3, Johannes Gehrke, CTC associate director and computer science professor, will present information on data-driven science, from 11:30 to 1 p.m. in 655 Rhodes Hall.
  
• On May 24, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. in G10 Biotechnology Building, CTC will sponsor the Symposium on High-Performance Computing: Predictions and Visions for the Future, featuring Anthony Ingraffea, the Dwight C. Baum Professor of Engineering at Cornell; Raymond Laflamme, director of the Institute for Quantum Computing, University of Waterloo; Jaron Lanier, computer scientist, composer, visual artist, and author; David Turek, vice president of Deep Computing at IBM; and Michael Waterman, professor of biological sciences, University of Southern California.

CTC currently operates a Windows/Intel scale-out cluster complex consisting of more than 1,500 processors, in addition to Unisys scale-up servers. Scientific and engineering projects supported by CTC represent a vast variety of disciplines, including bioinformatics, behavioral and social sciences, computer science, engineering, finance, geosciences, mathematics, physical sciences and business. For more information, visit http://www.tc.cornell.edu/ or http://www.ctc-hpc.com/.

Cornell University entered the field of high-performance computing in 1985 as an international presence when the National Science Foundation established the Cornell Theory Center as one of five national supercomputing facilities. Now a unit of Cornell's Faculty of Computing and Information Science, CTC is an interdisciplinary research center at Cornell, with a satellite office in Manhattan.

CTC Open House set for April 20

Discover what happens when science goes 3-D, math is fun and games are serious. As part of its 20th anniversary celebration, Cornell Theory Center will hold an open house from 1 to 6 p.m. Wednesday, April 20, in Rhodes Hall. A highlight will be demonstrations of the CAVE, the world's first multi-wall virtual reality environment, where viewers wearing special 3-D glasses can dance inside a molecule, peek from the statue of David's eyes or dive inside the crack on a fighter jet's wing. Other demonstrations covering topics ranging from data-intensive computing to bioinformatics, agriculture to virtual science fairs and fracture mechanics will be presented in the Collaboratory. Light refreshments will be served.

For more information, contact the Cornell Theory Center at 254-8757 or e-mail specchio@tc.cornell.edu.