Colorado State University Awarded $250,000 Cche Grant to Create Center for Robustness in Computer Systems

Colorado State University has been awarded $250,000 from the Colorado Commission on Higher Education Technology Advancement Group to support faculty, undergraduate students and graduate students to establish the Center for Robustness in Computer Systems. The goal of the center is to bring Colorado researchers and practitioners from universities and industry together to collectively investigate a holistic approach to the problem of robust computing system design, analysis and implementation.

Tony Maciejewski, head of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, and H.J. Siegel, Abell Distinguished Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering and professor of computer science, will lead the new center.

"We are excited about the grant because it opens up a broad range of new opportunities in the design of robust computing systems," said Maciejewski.  

Computing systems are becoming increasingly important to coordinate and conduct many tasks of everyday life. As this trend continues, the ability of computing systems to withstand failure or degradation of their individual elements – while still providing at least critical services – becomes of paramount importance. The center will conduct research to address this vital issue.

The challenge facing industry and the technical community is to manage computation and communication resources in dynamic, unpredictable environments, where the quantity and quality of available resources can change, as well as the demands placed on these resources by the workload. The Center for Robustness in Computer Systems will bring together research in three key areas to focus on a collaborative approach to this problem: robustness estimation; system state-of-health prediction to provide early warning of impending system degradation or failure; and resource management algorithms capable of flexibly and rapidly responding to changing system conditions.

"The center will improve opportunities for student projects and research at Colorado State and enhance prospects for obtaining federal funding for related research," Siegel said. "It will also improve collaboration among institutions of higher education and industry within Colorado."

The center also will benefit the state by creating a work force in Colorado that is educated in robust system design.

For more information, e-mail Anthony Maciejewski at AAM@colostate.edu or H.J. Siegel at HJ@colostate.edu.

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