House Basic Research Subcommittee Hears Testimony
on NSF Supercomputing Program and New Major Equipment
April 9, 1997
Even before the National Science Board (NSB) formally
approved funding for the new Partnership for Advanced
Computational Infrastructure (PACI) program at the
end of March, the House Science Committee Subcommittee
on Basic Research had scheduled a hearing on the topic.
The subcommittee's interest was guided in part by
Member concerns over the future of existing supercomputing
centers in their states, as well as plans for transition
from the old program to its new incarnation. As it
happened, however, concerns over the Board's procedures
in reaching its decision dominated the hearing.
In the first panel, Dr. Neal Lane, Director of NSF,
Dr. Richard Zare, Chairman of the NSB, Dr. Paul Young,
Senior Advisor to the Computer and Information Science
and Engineering Directorate at NSF, and Dr. Shirley
Malcom, Member of the NSB's Executive Committee, provided
a detailed overview of the PACI program, beginning
with the NSB's decision to rethink the entire supercomputing
center concept in 1994, through the development, competition,
and eventual Board decision to make two awards in
the new PACI program on March 28.
Because the Board had nine nominations still awaiting
Senate confirmation, it was unable to achieve a quorum
at that meeting. After being presented with a recommendation
to fund two PACI projects -- the National Computational
Science Alliance (NCSA), led by the University of
Illinois at Urbana/Champaign, and the National Partnership
for Advanced Computational Infrastructure (NPACI),
led by the University of California, San Diego --
the Executive Committee of the Board decided to approve
funding for both partnerships.
Much of the questioning of this panel focused on whether
or not the lack of a quorum and the use of the Executive
Committee compromised the decision process. Witnesses
detailed the legal authority, precedents, and a review
process that involved both confirmed Board members
and those awaiting confirmation to reassure the Subcommittee
that the decision would not have been different had
it been postponed.
Members also expressed concerns over the plans for
phasing out the supercomputing facilities at Cornell
and Pittsburgh. Dr. Young explained how these plans
had been developed and how supercomuting users would
be accommodated during the transition to the PACI
program.
The second panel focused on new facilities for computer
networking, upper atmospheric science, and radio astronomy.
Witnesses were Dr. Graham Spanier, President, Pennsylvania
State University; Dr. Michael Kelley, Cornell University;
and Dr. Paul Vanden Bout, Director, National Radio
Astronomy Observatory.
Dr. Spanier outlined the Internet II program aimed
at developing improved networking connections among
research universities and private sector partners.
Internet II complements the President's proposal for
the Next Generation Internet which would provide $100
million to a consortium of federal agencies to improve
computer network connections.
Dr. Kelley testified about plans for the Polar Cap
Observatory (PCO) to be built in Resolute Bay, Canada.
The PCO can provide information on solar activity
as it affects the upper atmosphere and is planned
to be completed before the next period of maximum
solar activity. Solar flares are known to affect satellites
and even earthbound electrical and electronic components.
Dr. Vanden Bout discussed plans for the Millimeter
Array (MMA) of radio telescopes that would be located
on a high altitude desert in Chile. The MMA would
use extensions of well-understood technologies to
gain a fuller understanding of stellar, galactic,
and planetary origins.
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