Sun Microsystems Starts Bioinformatics Project
By Ronald Roach

SAN FRANCISCO

Building on its commitment to advance academic research through high-performance computing technology, Sun Microsystems Inc. has announced the Sun North Carolina Research Triangle Center of Excellence (COE) in Bioinformatics and Computational Biology. By bringing together seven prominent universities, institutions and business partners as participants of the first virtual, multi-member COE, Sun is attempting to address the needs and demands of a new generation of scientists in this growing industry segment.

The COE aims to provide better research tools and capabilities for academic researchers in the field of genomics and proteomics, to provide a coordinated effort for training scientists using these tools and software, and to develop a distributed computing environment to facilitate collaboration between universities and corporations. The partners include Duke University, North Carolina State University, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, North Carolina Supercomputing Center, North Carolina Genomics and Bioinformatics Consortium.

It is anticipated that this COE will deliver a value of well over $6 million in computing hardware, software and services. By combining the resources of three large North Carolina universities, four other partners and Sun Microsystems, the COE will reduce costs through a collaborative approach to research computing.

"The North Carolina COE represents a creative partnership that was developed through the North Carolina Genomics and Bioinformatics Consortium. This COE is based on strong science and a collaborative spirit among world-class universities, the North Carolina Supercomputing Center at MCNC and industry leaders and innovators such as Incellico Inc., SAS and Sun Microsystems," says Dr. Ken Tindall, president of the North Carolina Genomics and Bioinformatics Consortium LLC.