We are proud to present the 2020-21 Ohio Supercomputer Center Research Report. Download the report to read it in PDF format, or browse the articles on the web by clicking on each story (located below the director's letter).
Download the 2021 OSC Research Report (PDF)
Stories
Plant biology
Scientists simulate how plants communicate through chemicals
Ecological networks
Preserving pollinator communities through simulations
Artificial intelligence
Accelerating drug discovery with AI
Transportation studies
Using computational simulations to test greener tractor-trailers
Experiential learning
University of Dayton students gain hands-on experience with computing, research
Pipeline preservation
CRES research findings promote infrastructure integrity
Structural biology
Capturing molecular motors in action
Architecture simulations
Classroom architecture programs amplified by OSC
Computational chemistry
Nanoparticle research yields education in data science
From the director
While the COVID-19 pandemic is not yet in the rearview mirror, the lasting effects get a little clearer each day. For OSC, the disruptions of the pandemic clarified one of the most important aspects of our work: community. Nearly overnight, our definition of togetherness fundamentally changed and, subsequently, we have reforged our connections and found new ways to gather.
OSC is no stranger to bringing distant communities together. The support we regularly provide to our clients all over the state of Ohio and the world had our staff prepared for virtual interaction even before the pandemic. Even so, the sudden displacement from our physical workspaces revealed the importance of cultivating our communities.
In response, we are intentionally reshaping how we gather together with our clients. Our Campus Champions program continues to grow as we engage campus IT support staff at Ohio’s colleges and universities to serve as local advocates for supercomputing and resources for their faculty and students. Our new Researcher Recognition program enables anyone to nominate the deserving work of oneself or one’s peers for spotlighting on our website and in the Research Report. And we are redeveloping our biannual Statewide Users Group meeting to make it just as engaging online as in person.
We are also reflecting on the ways in which our client community helps us grow stronger as a service provider. Our clients hail from across Ohio’s diverse and thriving research and innovation ecosystem and present us with a fascinating range of high performance computing (HPC), data storage and support needs. To meet these demands, our machines are tooled with a broader range of capabilities than comparable academic supercomputer centers; our data storage is secure, reliable and backed up; and our software applications and client support teams are cross-trained, qualified and capable of helping in any situation.
We are so proud to be a part of making possible the grand and consequential work you will read about in the following pages. While we call this the “Research Report,” I hope you will see how the impact of work enabled by OSC extends far beyond the laboratory and into the lives of Ohioans every day.
Whether you are a current or prospective client, a scientist, artist, engineer or teacher, if you are interested in learning more about how OSC’s high performance computing and storage could benefit your work, please reach out—we would love to help.
David E. Hudak
Executive Director
2020–21 Highlights
ICICLE AI Institute
OSC will serve as a core collaborator in the new NSF
AI Institute for Intelligent Cyberinfrastructure with Computational Learning in the Environment (ICICLE), one of 11 new Artificial Intelligence (AI) Research Institutes. The $20 million institute is led by The Ohio State University.
National and Local Engagement
Our staff participated in a variety of workshops and sessions at the Supercomputing Conference, hosted a virtual version of its Young Women’s Summer Institute and multiple “What’s So Super About Supercomputing?” youth webinars, and adapted our biannual Statewide Users Group conference to a virtual format.
Classroom Support
Classroom utilization of OSC resources accelerated dramatically, with a 232% increase in the number of Ohio higher education courses employing our tailored class.osc.edu user portal for virtual computer labs and hands-on experiences with data-intensive platforms such as R Studio and Jupyter.
