ASCR Research

DOE SBIR-STTR Web Page

ASCR Program Manager
Dr. Walt Polansky
Phone: 301-903-5935
walt.polansky@science.doe.gov

ASCR SBIR-STTR

For the most recent SBIR solicitation, there were two topics of interest to ASCR. The Fiscal Year 2012 Phase 1 SBIR/STTR solicitation opened August 1, 2011 and closes September 19, 2011. This notice will be followed soon with a second FY2012 Phase I funding notice involving applies research activities and the FY 2012 SBIR/STTR Phase II Funding Notice will be posted in the 2012 calendar year. Information about the ASCR mission and the topics are below. Additional information about the SC SBIR program can be found by clicking on the link to the SBIR/STTR web site to the right.

The primary mission of the Advanced Scientific Computing Research (ASCR) program is to discover, develop, and deploy computational science and high-performance networking tools and services that enable researchers in scientific disciplines to analyze, model, simulate, and predict complex phenomena in the areas of Energy, Environment and Security that are important to the Department of Energy. To accomplish this mission, ASCR funds research at public and private institutions and at DOE laboratories to foster and support fundamental research in applied mathematics, computer science, and high-performance network research. In addition, ASCR supports multidisciplinary scientific research through computational science partnerships with other Office of Science programs and other elements of the Department.

ASCR also operates high-performance computing (HPC) centers and related facilities, and maintains a high-speed network infrastructure (ESnet). The HPC facilities include the Leadership Computing Facility at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (OLCF), the Leadership Computing Facility at Argonne National Laboratory (ALCF), and the National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center (NERSC) at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL).

ASCR is interested in receiving innovative applications that have scientific merit and offer prospects for technical success in the following areas:

1. Advanced Network Technologies and Services - The Internet is a collection of independently owned and operated networks interconnected in a complex mesh to meet the needs of today’s digital society. These networks range from broadband networks supporting consumer activities (i.e., entertainment, business, and SOHO work activities) to multi-Gigibit/sec Research and Education Networks (RENs) supporting large-scale science experiments at major academic, industry, and government research institutions. Further complications arise when application traffic crosses multiple network domains, as a performance problem anywhere along the path will be visible to the application user, but the resolution may require action on the part of some remote network operator. While low-level tools like NetLogger (http://netlogger.lbl.gov/) can help identify bottlenecks that impact application level performance, it takes an expert in the tool to interpret the results before steps can be taken to eliminate those bottlenecks.
   
   

   Therefore, it is essential that new technologies, tools, and high-level services get developed and deployed to make it easier for network operators to identify where performance problems exist and to raise user expectations. Dealing with these complex issues will require new multi-domain tools and services that provide authorized personnel access to performance and operations data along the entire end-to-end application path. It should also be recognized that individual users may need summary information to assist them in reporting problems, while network operators need more detailed information to fix problems. Meeting both types of needs using a single measurement and monitoring infrastructure would greatly improve the network experience for a large number of users.

   While DOE science applications push the limits of today’s networks in terms of absolute performance, all network operators face a growing need for advanced tools and services to better manage their infrastructure. This topic solicits proposals that deal directly with all aspects of building, operating, and maintaining large network infrastructures

2. Increasing Adoption of HPC Modeling and Simulation in the Advanced Manufacturing and Engineering Industries - Over the past 30 years, The Department of Energy’s (DOE) supercomputing program has played an increasingly important role in scientific research by allowing scientists to create more accurate models of complex processes, simulate problems once thought to be impossible, and analyze the increasing amount of data generated by experiments. Computational Science has become the third pillar of science, along with theory and experimentation. However despite the great potential of modeling and simulation to increase understanding of a variety of important engineering and manufacturing challenges, High Performance Computing (HPC) has been underutilized due to application complexity, the need for substantial in-house expertise, and perceived high capital costs. This topic is specifically focused on bringing HPC solutions and capabilities to advanced manufacturing and engineering market sectors.