At the end of 2023, Senior Vice President for Research Andrew Read and ICDS Director Jenni Evans initiated an external review to evaluate and potentially enhance our High-Performance Computing offerings. The external review team consisted of Richard Knepper, PhD, Director of the Cornell University Center for Advanced Computing, and David Hancock, Director of Advanced Cyberinfrastructure, Research Technologies of University Information Technology Services at Indiana University.
For the purposes of this review, SVPR requested an overview of the Roar service, its cost model, utilization, and responsiveness to faculty needs. Operations within ICDS as the overall organization providing the service were also subject to review inasmuch as these activities support the engagement of new faculty users, support for current users of the system, and partnering opportunities for extending and improving capabilities of the Roar system.
The review team worked with ICDS staff, faculty leaders and faculty users, and consulted widely. They collected additional information and received several ICDS documents for background on the system in addition to meetings which spanned from November 2023 through March 2024. The review team visited Penn State for a site visit in February 2024, which allowed for both free-ranging panel discussions with the ICDS team and faculty with computational needs, as well as face-to-face conversations with stakeholders about Roar policies, functions, architecture, and utilization. The office of the SVPR conducted a survey instrument which provided broader detail from Roar users.
The reviewers have shared their report with SVPR Andrew Read and ICDS leadership which will be used to inform improvements and to develop strategies for enhancing our HPC offerings.
Feedback
We are pleased to share this report with our stakeholder communities, and we invite feedback and comments to further help us make informed decisions about how to improve the institute. If you have comments or questions, please utilize this form to note your feedback.