Binghamton Research Magazine - Spring/Summer 2012 - (Page 7)


BRIEFS
Binghamton University will be the focal point for this collaborative effort; partners Villanova University and the University of Texas at Arlington will have support centers on their campuses as well. Focusing initially on data centers, the center will seek ways to allow electronic systems to monitor and regulate the amount of energy they use. As it stands, the energy spent on running data centers in the United States is about 2.5 percent of the total national energy expenditure, which is enough to power a couple of medium-sized cities for most of the year. As the number of data centers increases with demand for online services, the need for greater energy efficiency becomes more apparent. Reducing energy consumption in data centers will save millions of dollars and may offer solutions to energy consumption problems in many areas of the electronics industry — from cell phones to e-commerce. The center is also looking to the future by providing industry-relevant training opportunities. “The center is committed to strengthening the United States’ competitiveness in the electronics industry,” says Kanad Ghose, chair of Binghamton’s computer science department and E3S site director. “By attracting talented and motivated students to work with outstanding researchers and industry leaders, we can train the next generation to be the kind of broad-based scientists and engineers that the industry is going to need in the future.” Industry center members have identified a few promising projects, including research associated with energy-efficient scheduling of workload, servers and cooling systems, the design of micro-scale servers and analyzing the effects of airflow and dynamics. “E3S will play a key role in establishing deep partnerships between industry and academia,” says Kushagra Vaid, general manager of datacenter hardware engineering at Microsoft. “Our goal is to jointly deliver breakthrough concepts for next-generation cloud infrastructure. Microsoft is proud to be on the advisory board for this research center.” — Gail Glover

Bahgat Sammakia, right, interim vice president for research and E3S director, collaborates with Kanad Ghose, chair of Binghamton’s computer science department and E3S site director, on research related to data centers.

Universities, industry team up for ‘greener’ electronics
Led by researchers at Binghamton University and its partners, the new Industry/University Cooperative Research Center in EnergyEfficient Electronic Systems (E3S) links the fields of information technology, telecommunications, electronic systems and cooling equipment. The center’s holistic approach to energy efficiency could save millions of dollars and lead to a “greener” electronics industry. Funded in part by the National Science Foundation, the center’s primary support will come from the industry center members with whom researchers will work on projects of mutual interest. Fifteen companies representing the entire supply chain for data centers — from hardware manufacturing and software development to end-users — have signed up as members. The list includes industry leaders such as Microsoft, IBM, Facebook, Bloomberg, General Electric, Corning Inc., Endicott Interconnect Technologies and Emerson Network Power. The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority is also involved. “The center will address energy efficiencies in a way that has not been tackled before,” says Bahgat Sammakia, interim vice president for research at Binghamton University and E3S director. “By looking at energy efficiency problems holistically — that is, from all angles and across many disciplines — the center will provide the kind of answers that leaders in the electronics industry are looking for.”

Binghamton University • BINGHAMTON RESEARCH • Spring/Summer 2012

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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Binghamton Research Magazine - Spring/Summer 2012

Binghamton Research Magazine - Spring/Summer 2012
Contents
About Binghamton Research
Welcome
Briefs
Digital defenders
Jockeying for genetic advantage
The unfiltered truth
Spring awakening
Wall Street watchdog
Principles of the universe demand principled engineers
Engineering and Science Building
Graduate research
Undergraduate research
A piece of the puzzle
Crossword puzzle

Binghamton Research Magazine - Spring/Summer 2012