WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Facebook for scientists — but built to facilitate serious research rather than socializing — and an award-winning method for putting idle computers to work on scientific breakthroughs are Purdue-developed technologies in the spotlight at the SC09, the world’s largest high-performance computing conference.

Purdue is highlighting the HUBzero and DiaGrid technologies at the university’s booth at SC09, which opens today (Monday, Nov. 16) in Portland, Ore.

HUBzero is a soon-to-be open source software platform developed by Purdue for deploying and applying computational research tools, visualizing and analyzing results interactively and publishing them, all through a familiar Web browser. Built-in social networking features akin to Facebook create communities of researchers and educators in science, engineering, medicine and almost any field or subject matter.

DiaGrid works by pooling computers over the Purdue campus network and off campus via the Internet and fast research networks. Whenever machines in the pool are idle, such as at night or when their owners are at lunch, the system sends work to them. Campus Technology Magazine selected DiaGrid for a 2009 international Campus Technology Innovators Award.

Purdue has created an automated system to link the computers of SC09 participants to the pool during the conference. The Purdue booth includes a scoreboard to keep track of whose machines are running the most jobs.

The booth is designed to promote Purdue; Information Technology at Purdue (ITaP), the university’s central information technology organization; and the Rosen Center for Advanced Computing, ITaP’s research and discovery arm. ITaP technologists developed HUBzero and DiaGrid.

“DiaGrid and HUBzero are model technologies for enabling research that Purdue is making available to the world,” says John Campbell, associate vice president in charge of research computing for ITaP, who heads the Rosen Center. “As the premier conference for research computing, SC09 is a prime place to showcase these technologies.”

Purdue’s booth also will provide academic information to potential Purdue students and information to job seekers about positions with Purdue, ITaP and the Rosen Center. Nearly 10,000 people attended the conference in 2008.

Purdue has become a recognized leader in cyberinfrastructure with the development of HUBzero, which powers nanoHUB.org and many other Web-based “hubs” for research collaboration, says Michael McLennan, senior research scientist and hub technology architect at Purdue. NanoHUB is an international resource for nanotechnology theory, simulation and education with tens of thousands of users.

“Like no other platform, HUBzero can host interactive simulation tools. So, users aren’t just reading about research, they can experience it,” McLennan says. “HUBzero allows users to work together as they interact with content.”

Other hubs link researchers transforming laboratory discoveries into new medical treatments, and Purdue is now working in a consortium with Indiana and Clemson universities and the University of Wisconsin to advance the technology even further.

A hub will be at the center of the Network for Earthquake Engineering Simulation (NEES), a $105 Million National Science Foundation program announced in September, which is led by Purdue. Purdue electrical and computer engineering Professor Rudolf Eigenmann, co-principal investigator of NEES, will give a workshop titled “Cyberinfrastructure for Earthquake Engineering” at the Purdue booth.

McLennan will host two workshops on HUBzero and one about nanoHUB during the conference. Purdue scientist Mathieu Luisier will offer a workshop on using massive supercomputers to simulate nanoscale electronic devices for the next generation of electronics, a central focus of nanoHUB.

DiaGrid includes computers in student computer labs, offices, server rooms and supercomputing clusters and is the first multi-campus collaboration of its kind. Purdue’s partners in DiaGrid are IU, Indiana State University, the universities of Notre Dame, Louisville and Wisconsin, Purdue’s Calumet and North Central campuses, and Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne.

Together, they now make nearly 30,000 processors available for research jobs ranging from understanding the Solar System’s formation to imaging the structure of viruses at near-atomic resolutions in an effort to develop new ways of battling viral illnesses, from swine flu and the common cold to West Nile virus and AIDS.

“The sheer size and ingenuity of the initiative, as well as the diversity of computing resources represented in the grid, really set the project apart,” Geoffrey Fletcher, editorial director of Campus Technology, said in announcing the Campus Technology Innovators Award for DiaGrid.

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Purdue is being recognized as a worldwide campus technology innovator for a system that harnesses what would otherwise be wasted computing power for major research projects.

Campus Technology Magazine has selected Purdue’s DiaGrid for one of its 2009 Campus Technology Innovators Awards.

Purdue’s partners in DiaGrid include Indiana University, Indiana State University, the University of Notre Dame, the University of Louisville, the University of Wisconsin, Purdue’s Calumet and North Central campuses, and Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne.

The annual awards, highlighted in the magazine’s August issue, recognize higher education institutions for groundbreaking initiatives in educational technology that are models for other schools. Campus Technology is a leading monthly publication produced by 1105 Media Education Group to deliver news and real-world examples of how technology is used to advance the way colleges and universities operate and educate.

Purdue was one of 11 award winners selected from 349 nominations from higher education institutions around the globe. The winners also are highlighted on CampusTechnology.com.

“We are delighted to present Purdue with a 2009 Campus Technology Innovators Award,” said Geoffrey Fletcher, editorial director of Campus Technology. “DiaGrid provides millions of hours of computation that would otherwise be wasted, without the need for additional technology or facilities purchases. The sheer size and ingenuity of the initiative, as well as the diversity of computing resources represented in the grid, really set the project apart.”

At its heart, DiaGrid is a working example from the hot field of network-centered “cloud” computing services.

“As cloud computing becomes the new standard, Purdue has positioned itself as an ongoing leader in this technology, especially for scientific research and educational purposes,” said Gerry McCartney, Purdue vice president for information technology and chief information officer.

Operated by ITaP, Purdue’s central information technology organization, DiaGrid started as an on-campus system. But the system now includes nearly 27,000 processors at Purdue and the partner campuses. Purdue has an ongoing effort to add partners, with a goal of incorporating 100,000 processors.

“We continue to explore new applications and are seeking additional institutions to join the project,” said John Campbell, associate vice president in charge of research computing for ITaP. “DiaGrid allows institutions to maximize their technology investments while supporting the diverse needs of faculty.”

Researchers at Purdue and elsewhere use DiaGrid for purposes such as imaging the structure of viruses at near-atomic resolutions, the better to develop new ways of battling viral illnesses ranging from swine flu and the common cold to West Nile virus and AIDS.

The distributed computing pool also has been used to understand the solar system’s formation, project the reliability of Indiana’s electrical supply and model the spread of water pollutants to develop best practices for ensuring water quality and availability, among other things.

DiaGrid works by pooling computers over the Purdue campus network and off campus via the Internet and fast research networks. Whenever computers in the pool are idle – at night, or when their users are at lunch, for example – the system sends work to them. When users need their computers, jobs in progress automatically get shifted to other idle machines in the pool. The variety of hardware in DiaGrid includes computers in student computer labs, offices, server rooms and supercomputing clusters. It also is the first multicampus collaboration of its kind.

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — When Tara Holt, a third-year Purdue University pharmacy student from Frankton, Ind., steps into a pharmacy clean room for the first time, she’s likely to experience a little déjà vu.

The room should look and sound familiar. Nothing ought to feel strange about standing encased in a sterile hair cover, mask, gown, gloves and booties. That’s because Holt and her classmates will have experienced it all before—in a virtual version of a pharmacy clean room. The computer-generated, 3-D immersive environment created in a Purdue project brings to mind the holodeck on the Starship Enterprise, for a serious purpose rather than recreation.

“For those of us who have never worked in a hospital with a clean room, it gave us a first-hand feel of what we can expect when we are on rotations,” Holt said. “The detail that was put into this project really helped make it as close to reality as possible.”

Pharmacy clean rooms are sterile environments where pharmacists and pharmacy technicians prepare materials that need to be guaranteed contamination-free, said Steve Abel, assistant dean for clinical programs in the Purdue School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences.

Generally found in hospitals and home health care companies, the rooms are used to prepare drugs, intravenous drips, syringes, chemotherapy treatments and the like, especially those administered directly into the bloodstream—a factor that makes vital the use of a clean room and proper clean-room procedures. Concern over the rise of antibiotic-resistant pathogens has only increased the need for such expertise.

The number of clean rooms where pharmacy students can train is limited, however. When the training involves real materials, it also can be expensive, sometimes prohibitively so. Abel said Purdue pharmacy students tend to get limited training time at the end of their third year, just before they serve a practicum that could land them in a clean room.

The situation got Abel thinking when he toured Purdue’s Envision Center for Data Perceptualization. The center is part of Information Technology at Purdue (ITaP), the university’s central information technology organization, and ITaP’s Rosen Center for Advanced Computing. It uses cutting-edge techniques, virtual environments among them, to explore new methods for research and education.

Astronauts and pilots train in flight simulators, Abel reasoned, so why not pharmacy students? He collaborated with Envision Center Managing Director Steve Dunlop, who enlisted Purdue Computer Graphics Technology Department students Chris Mankey of Fishers, Ind., Chris Sprunger of Lafayette, Ind., and Evan Underwood of Kokomo, Ind.

“To our knowledge, this is the only virtual clean room,” Dunlop said. A Purdue Provost’s instructional grant, as well as funding from Purdue’s Pharmacy School, paid development costs.

The simulator runs in a multiwall immersive environment at the Envision Center and will work on wall-sized panels and portable display systems, too. The equipment employs 3-D glasses and a wireless controller something like a Nintendo Wii’s to put users in the middle of the virtual world being projected and allow them to navigate and manipulate it. Head-tracking capability adjusts the view as a user looks around, or “walks” through, the environment, which is detailed down to the labels on the medicine bottles. The software also has been modified to run on desktop and laptop computers.

The virtual clean room was created from hundreds of digital pictures taken at Clarian Health Partners and Wishard Health Services in Indianapolis, in facilities compliant with USP 797, the federal regulation governing pharmacy clean rooms. The computer-graphics technology students also captured ambient sound and included it in the simulator.

The result stunned Jill Tyner when students began working in the virtual environment during the first semester of 2009. Her reaction wasn’t atypical.

“The technology that made this possible is unbelievable,” said Tyner, a Purdue pharmacy student from Kansas City, Mo. “After this experience, I would feel comfortable stepping into a clean room and explaining the different areas.”

The virtual clean room isn’t perfect—and that’s by design. Abel asked Carrie Jacobs, a sixth-year pharmacy doctoral student from Kalamazoo, Mich., Sheetal Patel, a Purdue pharmacy fellow from Philadelphia, and Ashley Vincent, a pharmacy resident from Indianapolis, to test the simulator before bringing in students and to prepare a lab curriculum for use with the facility. Version one, they decided, was a bit too clean. “It needs to be messier,” Vincent observed.

The Envision Center team added a pop can to a refrigerator for medicines, some empty cardboard boxes along a wall, improperly stored syringes, misplaced medicine bottles and other clean room no-nos. Abel said the idea is to help teach proper clean-room procedures by having students identify improper items included in the virtual environment.

“It helped us learn the regulations and what not to do in a clean room,” said Caryn Davis, a pharmacy student from Valparaiso, Ind. Likewise, Lindsey Corbets said the virtual clean room let her practice what she’s been taught and explore how a clean room is set up. But she sees possibilities beyond that.

“I think virtual reality technology is going to become a very big part of teaching,” said Corbets, a student from Rochester Hills, Mich. “It can be used in many different types of classes, from simulating clean rooms all the way to showing what the inside of a body could look like.”

The Envision Center is exploring several other immersive virtual training projects for health care and for geriatric care purposes, as well as for first responders and emergency personnel and construction managers.

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — All central IT services on the West Lafayette campus will be down for up to 16 hours this weekend.

At 4 p.m. Saturday (July 26), a complete power outage in Freehafer Hall will allow steps in installing larger transformers to support IT data center loads.

Services should resume by 8 a.m. Sunday.

There will be no access to Purdue home directories, shared files or folders, e-mail, Blackboard Vista, Software Remote, Purdue Air Link wireless Internet connections, Purdue or ITaP Web pages, VPN service, or OnePurdue SAP or Banner.

The outage is also expected to prevent campus users from accessing any IT service that requires a Purdue career account login and password.

Suggested preparations and more about the improvement project are at www.itap.purdue.edu.

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — The new iPhone 2.0 software that Apple released July 11 will enable Purdue faculty and staff iPhone devices to have connectivity to the Exchange servers.

Purdue Exchange administrators and the Office of Information Technology at Purdue’s Desktop Computing Services have been beta testing calendaring, Exchange integration, and other capabilities of the version 2.0 software. Version 2.0 software enables both the first model of the iPhone and the iPhone 3G to work with enterprise resources on campus. iPhone 2.0 software connects reliably to Purdue’s wireless network upgrade, PAL 2.0, and uses the Cisco VPN client.

Once version 2.0 software is installed and properly configured on an iPhone, there is some specific information needed to successfully connect to the Exchange server. In addition to providing manual configurations for PAL 2.0 and Exchange, Desktop Computing Services will provide some automatic iPhone configurations for PAL 2.0, the Cisco VPN, and Exchange. Details are linked from the Desktop Computing Services Web page: http://www.itap.purdue.edu/help/support/desktop/iPhone.cfm. Desktop Computing Services also will provide support and troubleshooting for any devices covered by a service agreement.

Users of the new iPhone 3G will be able to download and connect to the Internet at a faster rate than with previous models.

“3G service is currently not available from AT&T in the Lafayette area, so the faster cellular data connection speed will really not be seen immediately,” says Scott Ksander, executive director for networks and security at ITaP. “However, AT&T has informed Purdue that the 3G service will be available in this area starting in September.”

The iPhone 3G works as a phone, as an audio player, and as a connection to the Internet and e-mail. Gary Rantz, director of Desktop Computing Services, says, “Some features of the iPhone 3G might not be reimbursed by Purdue, depending on the needs of departments.” Users can check with department administrators to find out whether text messaging or video streaming features are eligible expenses.

Purdue faculty and staff can get 20 percent off AT&T service plans for iPhone 3G devices. They can register for the discount on iPhone 3G wireless services when purchasing the device at AT&T retail stores. The iPhone 3G went on sale July 11. To find a local, authorized AT&T store, go to http://www.wireless.att.com/find-a-store/. Details are provided at the ITaP Shopping Web page, http://www.itap.purdue.edu/shopping/ATT.