UT System commits $23 million for cyberinfrastructure

Dec. AUSTIN, Texas — The University of Texas System Board of Regents has unanimously approved $23 million for improvements that will increase connectivity and computer capacity for all 15 University of Texas institutions, support research projects and foster stronger collaborations among scientists in Texas and around the world. "We are pleased the regents authorized this effort, as it allows our 15 institutions to leverage all the research, financial and technical advantages of UT Austin's Texas Advanced Computing Center (TACC) so that all our campuses can develop their information technology infrastructures," said System Chancellor Francisco D. Cigarroa, M.D. TACC Director Jay Boisseau said, "Discoveries at the leading-edge of science require increasingly powerful computational technologies and are increasingly collaborative. This project will greatly enhance the ability of researchers at UT System institutions to address the most challenging computational problems, and to work together to make breakthrough discoveries." The computing upgrades will enable system institutions to transmit and receive data at a rate of 10 gigabits per second through an intra-system connection. These enhancements will improve collaborations among investigators in Texas and with researchers in other states and countries as well. "This boost in computational, networking and storage resources, accompanied by associated technical expertise, creates opportunity for researchers at UT System institutions who are constrained by limited access to such high-end resources," said Pat Teller, professor of computer science at the University of Texas at El Paso.