Tohline Named New Director of LSU Center for Computation & Technology
The LSU Board of Supervisors has officially confirmed Joel E. Tohline as the new director of the LSU Center for Computation & Technology, effective December 13. Tohline is a professor in the LSU Department of Physics & Astronomy.
"Computational science and computer infrastructure are key to the growth of most all scientific disciplines," said LSU Office of Research & Economic Development Interim Vice Chancellor Thomas Klei. "At LSU we are fortunate that previous administrations at the University and the State had the wisdom to invest in the center that became CCT. Joel Tohline is uniquely suited to lead the center at this critical time. With his guidance I am excited about its potential future and what that will bring to research at LSU and elsewhere in the State."
Tohline says that since he was in high school in New Orleans 40 years ago, most of his time as a student and, later, as a scientist and teacher has been devoted to understanding how computing and communications technologies can be effectively used to solve technically challenging problems.
"Especially as we have moved into an era when computing and networking pervade all aspects of modern life, I am tremendously excited to have the opportunity to lead LSU's Center for Computation & Technology," Tohline said. "I expect to become involved in all aspects of the CCT's activities, which include innovative research in computational science & engineering and numerous related technologies; ties with Louisiana's promotion and advancement of digital arts and the digital entertainment industry; and educational outreach and training to high-school, college, and graduate students throughout the state."
Tohline earned his bachelor's degree in physics from Centenary College of Louisiana in 1974, and his Ph.D. in astronomy from the University of California, Santa Cruz in 1978. He has been employed by LSU since 1982.
Tohline has previously served as a member of the Applications Strategy Council of Internet2, on the Program Advisory Council of LIGO (Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory in Livingston Parish), as Chairman of LSU's Department of Physics & Astronomy, as Interim Executive Director of LONI (Louisiana Optical Network Initiative), and as Interim Director of LSU's Center for Applied Information Technology and Learning (now the Center for Computation & Technology).
The Center for Computation & Technology is an interdisciplinary research center that advances the University's Flagship Agenda and promotes economic development for the state by using computational science applications to aid research and develop solutions that benefit academia and industry. CCT is an innovative research environment, advancing computational sciences, technologies and the disciplines they touch. By uniting researchers from diverse disciplines, ideas and expertise are disseminated across LSU departments to foster knowledge and invention. For more information, please visit: http://www.cct.lsu.edu.
ACM ICPC South Central USA Regional Programming Contest Announces Top Teams
LSU, through the Center for Computation and Technology and the Computer Science department, hosted the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) South Central USA Regional Programming Contest on Friday, Oct. 29 and Saturday, Oct. 30.
Louisiana, Oklahoma and Texas undergraduates participated in the contest at one of four hosting sites:
1. Baylor University, Waco, TX
2. East Central University, Ada, OK
3. LeTourneau University, Longview, TX
4. Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA.
Together, the four sites hosted 71 teams competing against each other for the top position and a trip to Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, to participate in the ACM International Collegiate Programming Contest (ICPC) World Finals.
During the competition, teams solved real-world problems through computational programming. The contest was designed to test skills at comprehension, analysis, problem solving, coding, dubbing, resource management, self-control and communication.
“The experience gained from participating in this event is pivotal to an undergraduate’s academic career. It gives the students an opportunity to write programs outside of the classroom, and to have that one-on-one interaction with faculty and staff members coaching the teams,” said Kathy Traxler, LSU CCT Education Outreach Specialist, and organizer of the ACM ICPC South Central Regional Competition. “This event allows us the opportunity to recruit computer science, mathematics and engineering students for LSU’s graduate programs from the finest programmers in the region,” said Traxler.
The South Central Contest began with a scripting contest on Friday as well as recruiting talks from IBM’s Extreme Blue internship program. The Friday scripting contest was won by University of Oklahoma “Team A” with a total of five problems solved. Forty of the 71 teams participated in the scripting contest.
A 45-minute practice contest kicked off Saturday’s program, followed by the official programming rules and contest problem sets. The winner of the ACM ICPC Programming Contest for the South Central Regional was University of Oklahoma “Team A” with a total of eight (of eight possible) problems solved in 960 minutes (including penalty points).
The overall competition top five were:
1. University of Oklahoma “Team A”
2. University of Texas at Austin “Team 1”
3. Abilene Christian University “Team Purple”
4. Rice University “Team Give a Hoot!”
5. Baylor University “Team 1”.
The top teams in each state were: University of Oklahoma “Team A” for Oklahoma, University of Texas at Austin “Team 1” for Texas; and McNeese University “Team Bazinga” for Louisiana.
More results can be found at: http://acm2010.cct.lsu.edu/results/.
CCT in the News:
Game maker expanding to BR
Source: The Advocate
Please Note:
• The University will be closed from Wednesday, December 23, 2010 and will re-open on Monday, January 3, 2011. If you plan to take off any additional personal time before or after the holidays, please remember to report your leave time by filling out a leave slip form. Your supervisor must provide their approval by signing the form. All forms should be sent to HR Coordinator, Laurie Rea, once approved by your supervisor. Please contact, Laurie Rea (lrea@cct.lsu.edu) with any questions.
• This summer, CCT will host its second Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU), a nine-week program that gives students an opportunity to join interdisciplinary research groups and use the advanced cyberinfrastructure available on campus to work collaboratively on computational science projects. CCT will accept 14 students for the Summer 2011 REU. Each participating student will receive a stipend of $4,500, free housing in University dormitories, and up to $500 in travel expenses. Interested undergraduate students from any academic discipline are welcome to apply. Applications are due February 28, 2011, and students will be notified of whether they have been accepted by March 31. For more information or to see details on how to apply, please visit http://reu.cct.lsu.edu/.
• The newly released 2010 Components can be found at: http://www.cct.lsu.edu/home
• SCIENTIFIC COMPUTING AROUND LOUISIANA (SCALA 2011) January 28-29, 2011 Tulane University, New Orleans
o Tulane University's Center for Computational Science and the LSU Center for Computation and Technology (CCT) will co-sponsor a meeting to highlight cutting-edge topics in scientific computing, showcase the research at Louisiana institutions and promote collaborations across the state of Louisiana.This meeting is open to any faculty, post-doctoral researcher or student from any college in and around Louisiana. The meeting will start Friday at 1:00 p.m. and run through approximately 5 p.m. Saturday. Registration is FREE, but required. Submission deadline is January 5, 2011 (early submissions encouraged). Register here. For more information, please visit: http://tulane.edu/sse/ccs/news/scala-2011.cfm
• Prior approval is required for Special Meal Requests. Employees who make meal purchases without prior approvals may find that they must cover the cost of any monies spent for an unapproved event out of pocket, especially now that state funds are under a spending freeze. Please contact Susie Poskonka (susie@cct.lsu.edu) prior to any special meal with visitor(s) to file the appropriate request for approval. Prior approval could take up to one week, so please plan accordingly.
• LSU now has an iPhone app that provides news, video, campus maps, athletics updates, and more. This app is a free download from the App Store or at http://lsumobileapps.lsu.edu. The technology coordinators who created this app are adding features, and the app should be available to Blackberry mobile users soon. Please send suggestions for content you would like to see through the LSU app to lsumobile@lsu.edu.
• Please remember to send your news concerning grants, awards, conferences, or other pertinent information to PR intern Samantha Navarra at snavarra@cct.lsu.edu.
• Follow CCT with social media to access photos and see news, events or updated information. These pages are public; you do not need an account to view the information.
o Facebook group : LSU Center for Computation & Technology
o Twitter : LSUCCT
o YouTube channel : LSUCCT
Upcoming Grant Deadlines:
Note: Please check the CCT deadline Web site, since it is updated daily.
CISE Cross-Cutting Programs: FY 2011
December 17 2010 10:00 am
At Most $ 3,000,000.00 available
Cyberlearning: Transforming Education
January 17 2011 10:00 am
At Most $ 2,500,000.00 available
Cyber-Enabled Discovery and Innovation (CDI)
January 19 2011 10:00 am
A Portion Of $ 36,000,000.00 available
*A message from James L. Bates, Executive Director, Office of Sponsored Programs:
“Due to upcoming major deadlines, the Office of Sponsored Programs (OSP) is expecting
a very large volume of proposals during the months of October, November and
December. Please encourage your faculty and staff to route proposals early so we can
meet all deadlines and avoid bottlenecks. Internal deadlines have been established for the
Board of Regents proposals:
http://appl003.lsu.edu/osp/osp.nsf/$Content/Board�of�Regents�Deadlines.
For all other proposals during this period, we ask PIs to provide us with additional lead
time beyond our normal 3 business day deadline to review and process proposals. Thank
you for your cooperation.”
Publish Date:
12-14-2010
