Overview

The department maintains an excellent array of computational systems and services that support the teaching, learning, and research needs of the program. Our services run on servers totaling 312 general-purpose cores, four NVIDIA V100 Tensor Core GPUs, an NVIDIA A100 GPU system, and a XiLinx FPGA board. Services include a general-purpose host accessible using SSH, a Eucalyptus infrastructure-as-a-service deployment, a server capable of hosting Docker-compatible containers, a private instance of GitLab, a private instance of Autolab, our departmental web server, and a number of core network services. Additionally, the department maintains a general-purpose computer lab made up of 29 Linux workstations and a number of other devices such as 3D printers and a well equipped robotics lab.

Departmental Lab

The departmental computing lab consists of 29 Linux workstations each with a 43" 4K monitor. The lab is available to all students with a major in one of our computing programs and also minors. Students enrolled in specific CS courses that required computing resources may also have accounts.

Hardware Lab

To support projects in the Internet of Things the department maintains equipment for designing and fabricating PCB boards. This includes binocular microscopes, hot air soldering equipment and PCB ovens.

3D Printers

The department has Makerbot Replicator 2, Lulzbot Taz 6 and Formlabs 2 printers that are available for special projects. The Makerbot and Lulzbot are fused deposition modeling printers that work with a variety of plastics include ABS, PLA and nylon. The Formlabs 2 printer is a stereolithography printer that works by using a scanning UV laser to polymerize a liquid plastic. These machines are managed by the MakeShift student organization.

3D Laser Printer

The department maintains a Glowforge 3D Laser Printer that is also available for special projects. The printer is able to engrave a wide variety of materials ranging from wood, fabric, leather, paper, Plexiglas, and many more. This machine is also manged by the MakeShift student organization.

Compute Engines

The department has support for high performance computing through four NVIDIA V100 Tensor Core GPUs, an NVIDIA A100 GPU system, and a XiLinx FPGA board. Students majoring in one of our programs may request accounts on these machines for research purposes.

Computer Lab Upgrade

The computer lab was upgraded recently. The awkward power cables were improved with new flooring and lighting as well. Because of these fixes, there is a surprising amount of more usable floor space. We think this is a big improvement.