This week I am at Indiana University (IU) Bloomington for the
10th Annual Polar Technology Conferece (PTC). It is being led by SRI (Stanford Research Institute) and the intent is to share technology successes and failures among the research community funded by NSF (National Science Foundation). The Barrow project is being funded by NSF through CPS (CH2MHill Polar Services). So now that we have covered all of the TLAs (Three Letter Acronyms), I can continue on with this post. The sessions started early this morning so no additional photos. It was raining yesterday evening and it turned to snow later in the evening.
I had been to Indianapolis before but never to Bloomington. All I've ever heard about Bloomington before was in the 1979 movie,
Breaking Away. Back then I was really into cycling and that is what the movie was about.
The first photo was taken from my hotel room this morning. It was still below freezing and there was still a bit of snow sitting around from yesterdays storm. The Bloomington campus of IU is the "flagship campus" of the system and the largest enrollment at 40,000+ students. The buildings match the founding date of 1820 as everything is some shade of brown.
The next couple of pictures were taken during a tour of their cyberinfrastructure operation. The first is a video wall showing a movie of Indiana University's activities in Antarctica. To the left is one of their new supercomputers. This was in the half of the data center that supported organized research. Most of the buildings are covered with limestone with elaborate carvings but the data center was granted an exception due to the cost.
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"REFUND!"
ReplyDeleteI adore that movie. Such a classic and can't feel anything but good after watching it. Thanks for bringing that up. I'll have to seek it out and watch again.
I've been to Bloomington IN a couple times very briefly. I remember the campus as being very pretty. Is it? Enjoy your Midwestern visit!
I had forgotten about that part of the movie.
DeleteThe campus is very pretty with limestone covering almost all of the buildings. Still not much green...
I've not been there, our youngest scoped it out and was excited about continuing her studies there. She was very impressed with things on and around campus. Now she's decided to stay in Cleveland so it looks like I won't be visiting as soon as I'd thought.
ReplyDeleteI've never had a reason to visit Bloomington before. I'm glad that many of these meetings move around the country. It gives you the opportunity to visit new places.
DeleteThe weather in Bloomington isn't colder than Fairbanks right now is it? So weird not seeing blooming trees and green grass. I guess I am spoiled in Oregon.
ReplyDeleteNo, it's still marginally warmer here than it is in Fairbanks. But not quite enough to convince trees that winter really is over. The grass is green but not the bright green associated with new growth. I.e. not quite time to dig out the mower.
DeleteRichard:
ReplyDeletetoo many TLA's, I'm getting overloaded trying to keep them straight. I liked that video wall.
Never seen a supercomputer before. maybe it's just a big box with a small commodore 64 inside.
bob
A weekend photographer
or
Riding the Wet Coast
The video wall was pretty cool though the video they were showing was only 1080p. The wall was capable of showing 8K video.
DeleteWe have numerous supercomputers as well in my building and none really look that impressive to look at. I think that they're a little more than Commodore 64s maybe a bunch of Android devices.