CHREC NSF Center Newspaper Article

The School of Engineering and Applied Sciences has become a home for some of the world's most advanced computer systems.

The National Science Foundation announced last month that it would award GW with the funding to create a Center for High Performance Reconfigurable Computing in Tompkins Hall. The initiative is helping pave the way for the development of some of the world's most advanced and compact computers.

Government agencies like NASA along with private companies such as Hewlett Packard, Intel and Silicon Graphics have all contributed tens of thousands of dollars to CHREC projects.

"One goal of the CHREC is to support the research needs of industry and government partners in a cost-effective manner with pooled, leveraged resources and maximized synergy," said Alan George, CHREC's national director.

Professor Tarek El-Ghazawi is the GW CHREC site director and spent two years submitting proposals with his team to the NSF and private corporations to bring the center to GW. The NSF contributed to the proposal when GW had collected enough private donations to start working.

With the funding provided to the CHREC, GW researchers hope to continue to build the reputation of the University as a center for computer research. The University of Florida is also a partner in the initiative and Virginia Tech and Brigham Young University are pending partners.

"Given the expertise we have in place at GW, the importance of high performance computing to our national security and national competitiveness, and the relationship of high performance computing to other priority research areas at GW, I feel very strongly that additional investment in this area will yield important results," said Donald Lehman, GW executive vice president for academic affairs, in a press release.