The NWSC project encompasses the design and construction of a world class center for high performance scientific computing in the atmospheric and related geosciences. Consistent with its mission, the facility will be a leader in energy efficiency, incorporating the newest and most efficient designs and technologies available. The center will provide new space to enable the advancement of scientific knowledge, education, and service through high-performance computing.
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Partners | NSC Project Staff | NWSC Oversight Committee (NOC) | NOC Charge
The NWSC is the result of a partnership between NCAR, the University of Wyoming, the State of Wyoming, Cheyenne LEADS, Wyoming Business Council, CLF&P, UCAR, and NCAR's principal funding source, the National Science Foundation.
National Center for Atmospheric Research. National Center for Atmospheric Research. As a national center, NCAR collaborates with partnering institutions to conduct world-class research in areas vital to society. NCAR and university scientists work together on research topics in atmospheric chemistry, climate, cloud physics and storms, weather hazards to aviation, and interactions between the Sun and Earth. The center also provides the university science and teaching community with the tools, facilities, and support required to perform innovative research. Through NCAR, scientists gain access to high-performance computational and observational facilities, such as supercomputers, aircraft and radar – resources researchers need to improve human understanding of atmospheric and Earth system processes. 
University of Wyoming. With nearly a century and a quarter of achievement behind it, the University of Wyoming has built a reputation for academics, research and outreach across Wyoming and across the world. UW is poised to usher in a new era of accomplishment, with new enterprises such as the School of Energy Resources, and investments in recruiting top faculty and researchers to add to UW’s already impressive academic roster.
State of Wyoming. The State of Wyoming and the Office of Gov. Dave Freudenthal have
worked closely with the National Center for Atmospheric Research in the
development of the supercomputer project. “This is exactly the type of
economic development effort that will allow Wyoming to build our
intellectual capital and become a world-class player in the high-tech
arena,” Gov. Freudenthal said. "I thank the Wyoming Legislature for
its ongoing support of this project." The supercomputer is anticipated
to function as a driver for economic diversity, for the enhancement of
energy research and as a tool to attract top students, researchers and
faculty to the University of Wyoming in Laramie.
Cheyenne LEADS. Cheyenne LEADS is the economic development entity for
Cheyenne and Laramie County, Wyoming. Cheyenne LEADS, a member-supported
private non-profit corporation, serves as a vehicle where the business
community and city and county government come together to bring jobs and
economic opportunity to Laramie County, Wyoming. Through private
contributions and local governmental grants, Cheyenne LEADS has developed
two business parks for the expressed purpose of creating jobs and
diversifying the local economy. LEADS is extraordinarily pleased to utilize
these resources to accommodate the University of Wyoming and NCAR's
partnership for a supercomputing center and pledges the full support of the
Cheyenne community to help these institutions expand their missions in the
service of science and education.
Wyoming Business Council. The economic and community development arm of Wyoming state government was created in 1998 to facilitate the economic growth of the state. The Business Council provides assistance to existing Wyoming companies and start-ups; helps communities meet their development and diversification needs; and recruits new firms and industries targeted to complement the state’s assets. The Business Council delivers many programs at the grassroots level through Regional Offices with active local participation.
Cheyenne Light, Fuel & Power Company, a subsidiary of Black Hills Corporation, serves 37,400 electric customers and 33,200 natural gas customers in the greater Cheyenne, Wyo., area. Black Hills Corp. - a diversified energy company - is based in Rapid City, S.D. The company serves 750,000 utility customers in seven states. The company's non-regulated businesses generate wholesale electricity, produce natural gas, oil and coal, and market energy.
University Corporation for Atmospheric Research. The University Corporation for Atmospheric Research promotes partnership in a collaborative community dedicated to understanding the atmosphere and the interconnected processes that make up the Earth system, from the ocean floor to the Sun's core. UCAR serves as a hub for research, education, and public outreach for the atmospheric and Earth system science community, and manages NCAR and the UCAR Office of Programs on behalf of the National Science Foundation and the university community.
National Science Foundation. The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent federal agency created by Congress in 1950 "to promote the progress of science; to advance the national health, prosperity, and welfare; to secure the national defense…" NSF is the funding source for approximately 20 percent of all federally supported basic research conducted by America's colleges and universities. In many fields such as mathematics, computer science and the social sciences, NSF is the major source of federal backing.[top]
NWSC Project Staff:
Krista Laursen - NWSC Project Director »[close]
Krista Laursen is the NWSC Project Director. She has been at NCAR for over 16 years and her work focuses on the management of large, complex projects to develop and deploy scientific facilities. Krista previously served as Director of the HIAPER project, an $81.5 million effort to acquire and modify the National Science Foundation (NSF)/NCAR Gulfstream V (GV) jet for environmental research. Prior to being named the HIAPER Project Director, Krista spent nearly ten years managing research aircraft deployments and instrumentation development efforts for NCAR. She earned a B.S. in Physics from the University of Oregon in 1989 and an M.S. in Atmospheric Sciences from the University of Washington in 1992. Krista is a certified Project Management Professional (PMP) and has previously served on U.S. federal agency project review panels.
Aaron Anderson - Project Engineer »[close]
Aaron Andersen is the Section Head for the Enterprise Services Section housed in the Computing and Information Systems Lab (CISL) of the National Center for Atmospheric Research. Aaron has over fifteen years of experience and expertise in both facilities and information technology. Aaron has a BS in Mechanical Engineering and Masters of Computer Science from the University of Colorado where he was a Boettcher Scholar and member of the Presidents Leadership Class. Aaron is currently a Fellow of the Uptime Institute and was a judge for the
Green Enterprise IT Awards for 2009.
Gary New - Asst. Project Engineer »[close]
Gary New is Assistant Section Head and Computing Facility Engineer in the Enterprise Services Section (ESS) of the Computational Information Systems Laboratory (CISL) at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR). He is a licensed Master Electrician in both Colorado and Wyoming. Before coming to NCAR in 2000, he worked in the Hospital / Healthcare facilities maintenance field for over 19 years beginning as an Electrician and rising to Building Services Supervisor encompassing all trades. His current job responsibility is oversight and infrastructure maintenance of the supercomputing center at the NCAR Mesa Lab in Boulder, along with day-to-day ESS activities as Assistant Section Head. Interestingly enough, Gary’s career is coming full circle; his first summer after High School graduation was spent working on the Cheyenne Frontier Days grounds crew in 1975. Gary’s interests are; Family (especially Grandchildren), Football, Basketball, Golf, NASCAR auto racing. Other affiliations past and present:
• Vice President / Board of Directors – 7 x 24 Exchange – Rocky Mountain Chapter (an organization of mission critical facilities managers)
• SC09 / Portland OR – Infrastructure / Electric Chair (honest, look at the web site) – SC is a high end Supercomputing Conference held in a different city each year
• Firefighter / Deputy Chief – Wheat Ridge Volunteer Fire Department (retired)
• Consultant – WRFD Fire Investigation Bureau
• SC09 / Portland OR – Infrastructure / Electric Chair (honest, look at the web site) – SC is a high end Supercomputing Conference held in a different city each year
• Firefighter / Deputy Chief – Wheat Ridge Volunteer Fire Department (retired)
• Consultant – WRFD Fire Investigation Bureau
Lori Lincoln - Project Assistant »[close]
Lori Lincoln is the Project Assistant for the NWSC project. She has been with NCAR/UCAR since 2007 and joined the project office in October 2008. She earned her B.A. from the University of Colorado at Boulder in Environmental Population and Organismic Biology. When she is not busy with project assignments, she is most likely dreaming of her next trip to Norway.
Amy Smith - Contract Administrator »[close]
Amy Smith is a Senior Contract Administrator at the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR). Amy has worked at UCAR for the past 10 years on a variety of major procurements and contracts, such as those for supercomputers, satellite payloads, and construction projects to name a few. Prior to coming to UCAR, she worked in procurement in the commercial sector for four years. Amy holds a B.A. in Liberal Arts.
Amy Moore - Budget Analyst »[close]
Amy Moore is the Budget Analyst for the Computing and Information Systems Laboratory (CISL) at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), currently working with the NCAR Wyoming Supercomputing Center (NWSC) project. Over the past 14 years with NCAR/ University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR), Amy has also worked for the UCAR Finance division as well as the scientific division, High Altitude Observatory (HAO) and has now been with CISL for the past 6 years. Amy earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Finance from Regis University in 2000.
Marion Hammond - Construction Manager »[close]
Marion Hammond manages the Space Planning and Projects Office at UCAR. She will act as the construction manager for the NWSC. Marion holds a bachelor's degree from the University of South Carolina and a graduate certificate in project management from George Washington University. In addition, she is a certified Project Management Professional. Marion has managed construction of hospitals, laboratories and data centers in both the public and private sector.
Marijke Unger - Communications Liaison »[close]
Marijke Unger is the external relations specialist for NCAR's Computational and Information Systems Laboratory (CISL) and has been with the organization for two years. She is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and Middlebury College, holds a Masters in French, and has nearly 15 years of experience in writing, editing and communications. Her career began at the United Nations, after which she relocated to Washington DC and started working on climate change at World Wildlife Fund. Her interest in climate change has defined her career, working as a communications officer for the National Snow and Ice Data Center and designing and managing a media campaign for Greenpeace before joining the NCAR team. Marijke has lived and worked in North and South America, Europe and Antarctica. When not at her desk or playing with her dogs, she enjoys her alternate existence as a commercial pilot, motorcyclist, snowboarder and avid photographer.
Jeff Alipit - Webmaster »[close]
Jeff is the Webmaster for CISL as well as the NWSC project. He has been with NCAR/UCAR for 8 years. During this time, he has worked for the Network Engineering & Telecommunications Section and UCAR Communications. He rejoined CISL as the Webmaster in March of 2008. When not busy with work or enjoying time with his family, he usually can be found fly fishing one of Colorado’s major six rivers with his brother.
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NWSC Oversight Committee (NOC):
- • Robert Serafin, Chair, NCAR
- • Robert Aylward, Univ. of Wyoming
- • Arthur S. "Buddy" Bland, Oak Ridge National Laboratory
- • Roger Crosby, The Crosby Group
- • Carol Frost, Univ. of Wyoming
- • Maura Hagan, NCAR
- • Sarah Ruth, Ex Officio, NSF
- • Lucie Osborn, Laramie County Library System
- • Michael Patterson, Intel Corporation
- • Jeff Reaves, UCAR
- • Bert Semtner, Naval Postgraduate School
- • Darren Smith, NOAA CIO-HPC Office
- • Otto VanGeet, NREL
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NCAR-Wyoming Supercomputing Center (NWSC) Oversight Committee (NOC) Charge
The NWSC Oversight Committee (NOC) provides independent oversight, guidance, and community input during the project development and construction phases of the NWSC project. In doing its work, the Committee draws on expertise in the areas of construction, sustainable design, large project management, business opportunity development in the technology sector, and high-performance computing (HPC) facility operation.
The NOC considers all aspects of project conduct and may from time to time focus on specific details as identified by its members, the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), or the University of Wyoming (UW). The NOC meets a minimum of two times annually. The Committee reports to the NCAR Associate Director for CISL (Al Kellie), the NCAR Director (Eric Barron), and the UW Vice President for Research and Economic Development (Bill Gern). Activities of the group are administered by the NCAR NWSC Project Office (NPO). The National Science Foundation (NSF)/Division of Atmospheric Sciences (ATM) program manager for the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR), Cliff Jacobs, serves as an ex officio member of the Committee. Seated during the project development phase, the NOC will sunset when NWSC construction and commissioning are complete and the facility begins research supercomputing support for the community.
While the Committee is free to provide input regarding all aspects of project conduct, members are in general terms asked to regularly provide guidance on the following:
- • Is the project being executed in such a manner as to ensure cost‐efficient construction of an HPC facility that meets the design goals of modularity and maximum efficiency?
- • Is project structuring and conduct consistent with best project management practices?
- • Are the needs and interests of project stakeholders – NCAR, UCAR, Wyoming partners, NSF, scientific community – being taken into consideration and, as reasonable and appropriate, incorporated into the design and construction process?
At the completion of each NOC meeting, the Committee will deliver a short verbal report of their observations and findings to those NCAR, UCAR, Wyoming, and other personnel in attendance. Within three-four weeks of meeting completion, a written report summarizing NOC observations and findings will be delivered to the NCAR Associate Director for CISL, the NCAR Director, and the UW Vice President for Research and Economic Development. All NOC reports will be made available to NCAR, UCAR, project partner, and NSF personnel via a protected section of the NWSC project web site.
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Science relies more than ever on computing power to help improve our understanding and broaden our knowledge of the world and how our activities are affecting its natural balance. Computers have helped us see the processes that churn in stars, visualize future climate on Earth, and calculate the paths of hurricanes.
However, as computer models become more sophisticated, integrate more parts of the Earth system, and increase in resolution, they require more and more powerful machines. The NCAR Mesa Laboratory has housed NCAR's computing resources, spanning a history that dates back to one of the first supercomputers ever built, the Cray 1A. While a standard cell phone today has more computing power than it did, the Mesa Laboratory is now home to one of the world's fastest and most powerful supercomputers dedicated to geoscience research. But computing power and cooling requirements have outgrown the facility's capacity, and a new facility that can accommodate future expansion is needed. Our goal is to build a world class scientific supercomputing facility that does not compromise on energy efficiency or sustainability, and that is adaptable to the ever-changing landscape of high-performance computing.
Design specifications for the facility are based on a modular and expandable space that can be adapted, allowing for upgrades and additions to mechanical and electrical equipment as program needs or technology demands dictate. The facility will also be designed with the highest level of efficiency possible, not only for the electrical and mechanical facilities, but also the office spaces and multi-use areas.
More detailed specifications and design information will be provided as they become available.
The NWSC design effort will formally begin in March 2009. Under the terms of the current project schedule, and pending NSF final approval, facility construction will start in December 2009 with NWSC construction and commissioning to be completed in the summer of 2011.
The image below shows a high-level representation of the current project schedule, with a blow-up of the facility design phase portion of the schedule shown at the bottom of the image.
The new facility will be constructed in the North Range Business Park in Cheyenne, Wyoming on Lots 3 and 4 Block 2 or Lots 3 and 4 Block 3.
