Computer science projects recognized

IU scientists were recognized nationally this week as four computer science projects won awards of $4.5 million from the National Science Foundation.\nIU-Bloomington computer scientists Dennis Gannon, Beth Plale, Andrew Lumsdaine, Donald McMullen, Randall Bramley, Kenneth Chiu, IUB chemist John Huffman, Pervasive Technology Labs research scientist and project leader Marlon Pierce and PTL Community Grids Lab Director Geoffrey Fox all received the awards.\nThe scientists are researching ways to improve weather modeling, protect crucial scientific data and develop software that helps grid computing.\nGannon and Plale were awarded $1.5 million to continue developing a new weather-modeling computer. Currently, weather forecasts are generated from a series of data snapshots, but the new weather modeling system will use a constant flow of data from weather stations to achieve more accuracy in local forecasts.\nLumsdaine received $650,000 to lead a 3-year project to develop "middleware" that protects a scientist's computer data even when the underlying hardware fails. Reliable middleware allows scientists to focus more fully on their research without having to worry about the reliability of their computing tools.\nPierce, Fox, Gannon and Plale said they will use their $870,000 portion of a larger, 3-year grant to develop a software system that makes it easier to participate in grid computing projects. Grid computing is a new phenomenon in which many computers in different locations are networked together in order to cooperate on a single computing problem.\nPTI serves as an economic development catalyst for Indiana's information technology sector through technology transfer and commercialization of innovations produced in labs.\nAlso, McMullen, Bramley, Chiu and Huffman received a $1.5 million, 3-year grant to develop a software interface to help make available scientific instruments to biomedical researchers across the globe. This will help researchers collaborate to access and share large, centrally located and costly scientific instruments, regardless of their physical location.