VCU Biological Complexity

Seminar: Apple and High Performance Computing
Tuesday, February 1, 2005 * 1:00pm-4:00pm
Eugene P. and Lois E. Trani Center for Life Sciences
Room 116
1000 West Cary Street
Richmond, VA 23284-2012

Seminar: "Apple and High Performance Computing"
Dr. Dean Dauger, Dauger Research

Hosted by the Dyer Laboratory of Population Genetics at VCU

Apple Computer invites you to explore the benefits of cluster computing hardware and software solutions for the demanding computational requirements of modern research. Researchers need the most powerful technologies available to analyze the ever-growing volume and complexity of data. However, challenges faced by many researchers include insufficient computing resources to perform analyses, unacceptable performance of analyses and excessive computing administrative burden. The underlying Unix foundation of Mac OS X creates many new technical opportunities for clusters and compute farms using Macintosh hardware.

Dr. Dauger's presentation will include discussion on Pooch, the easiest way to build and use a parallel computer, plus discussion on HPC Software Optimization, as seen at Apple's WWDC 2004.

Pooch, winner the IEEE Cluster conference's latest "most innovative" award, combines powerful, numerically-intensive parallel-computing clusters with the famed ease-of-use of the Macintosh. Combining the best of cluster and grid computing, Pooch is the only solution that merges a modern graphical user interface with supercomputer-compatible parallel computing. It provides the user interface for the latest incarnation of AppleSeed, a UCLA Physics project begun in 1998. For six years, their software is being used world-wide to transform Macintoshes into easy-to-use, numerically-intensive parallel computers.

Seminar will include sessions on:

Solutions we’ll feature:

The seminar will feature Dean Dauger of Dauger Research. Dr. Dauger is the award-winning author of Atom in a Box and Fresnel Diffraction Explorer and co-authored the original, award-winning Kai's Power Tools software. After completing his Ph. D. in physics, he founded Dauger Research, Inc., to bridge the divides between the scientifically and technically complex and the mainstream by making high-performance computation and visualization easy to use and accessible to users.

Admission is FREE.

SEATS ARE LIMITED, SO REGISTER TODAY.

http://www.seminars.apple.com/goToEvent.html?id=32544

Seminar: "Convergent Evolution of Cell Cycle Control Networks
in Bacteria and Yeast"
Wednesday, February 9, 2005 * 12:00pm-1:00pm
Temple Building, Rm. 2223

Seminar: "Convergent Evolution of Cell Cycle Control Networks "
Dr. Paul Brazhnik, Research Associate Professor, Department of Biology
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

Dr. Brazhnik will be visiting VCU on Wednesday and Thursday. He is a candidate for a tenure track faculty position in Mathematical Biology in the Center, Math, Biology, /other departments. Dr. Brazhnik has a Ph.D. in Theoretical and Mathematical Physics, and postdoctoral and independent research experience which includes works in theoretical-computational biology (application of dynamical systems methods). His recent research focuses on computational mathematical modeling of biochemical signaling and regulatory pathways and networks in mammalian cells (cancer related), lower eukaryotes (yeast) and bacteria (caulobacter). His work on mammalian cell regulation is supported by a five year federal grant. Please contact Dr. Gregory Buck if you would like to speak with him.