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NEWS
VIRGINIA TECH'S "X" MARKS THE NO. 3 SPOT
On Friday, it was announced that Virginia Tech's "X" computer is ranked the third fastest in the world and is the fastest supercomputer at any university. X, named by its developers for its design goal of 10 teraflops, ranks below Japan's Earth Simulator and ASCI Q, the Los Alamos National Laboratory's dedicated weapons computer. Jack Dongarra of the University of Tennessee and the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, compiled the listing on Nov. 5, but the ranking wasn't made official until Nov. 16, during the SuperComputing 2003 conference in Phoenix, Ariz. In terms of the speed of Virginia Tech's supercomputer, it can theoretically handle a potential 17 teraflops, or 17 trillion operations per second. The recorded 10.28 teraflops is "truly amazing" when one considers the machine was essentially put together in two months of construction time, says Jason Lockhart, one of the members of Virginia Tech's project team.
$3.5 MILLION GRANT TO HELP ADVANCE FACULTY WOMEN IN SCIENCE, ENGINEERING
Using a $3.5 million institutional transformation grant from the National Science Foundation's (NSF) ADVANCE program, Virginia Tech will identify barriers that can keep women faculty members from choosing, remaining in, or advancing in science and engineering, and will develop ways to promote and enhance the careers of women in these disciplines. The overall goal of the NSF ADVANCE program is to get more women involved in the scientific and engineering workforce by increasing the representation of women in academic science and engineering careers at all levels, particularly in leadership roles.
TWO NEW ALUMNI DISTINGUISHED PROFESSORS NAMED
The rank of Alumni Distinguished Professor is reserved for select faculty who have made long-term and outstanding contributions to the instructional program of the university, and two faculty members were recently honored with this distinction. Charles Bostian, a professor of electrical and computer engineering in the College of Engineering since 1969 and has been a leader in forging the university's preeminent wireless communications program. Jacqueline Bixler, a professor of Spanish in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences since 1980, has been the recipient of the university's prestigious Alumni Award for Teaching Excellence, the Diggs Teaching Scholar Award, and four Certificates of Teaching Excellence.
PROFESSOR ASSISTS APPALACHIAN TRAIL MANAGERS
Jeffrey Marion, professor and recreational resources management expert with the U.S. Geological Survey, has carved out some recommendations to prevent destruction of overused campsites on the Appalachian Trail. The study, recently cited in a Washington Times article regarding the conservation efforts of the popular Maryland campsite of Annapolis Rocks, evaluated problems facing the campground as well as offered solutions and ways to implement them and evaluate their effectiveness.
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