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94 Section III. Implementationsixteen in 2002. The popularity of VAMPIRE grew as others heard about its usefulness.There was no formal mechanism for attracting other researchers, but word ofmouth was particularly effective. Initially, Paul and Jason knew of a few people withwhom they wanted to talk, but others simply approached them after hearing about theeffort from others. One person who helped publicize VAMPIRE and brought peopletogether was Chip Cox, director of the Vanderbilt Internet 2 project. After the initialsetup, additional funding resulted from the participation of new investigators.Two engineeringprofessors contributed a large sum of money. One provided $250,000 as partof his startup funds, and another $250,000 came from a U.S. Navy grant. At this time,Ron Schrimpf 10 joined the effort and would play a large role in the further maturationof VAMPIRE into a larger system. Ron, a professor from the Department of ElectricalEngineering, contributed a large number of nodes for VAMPIRE through one ofhis department’s research programs. His research deals with the interface of physicsand the semiconductor aspects of electrical engineering. He requires the use of heavydutycomputing for simulations, and his role represents the perspective of a major userof the system.Growing VAMPIRE into the Scientific Computing CenterThe success of VAMPIRE alleviated many initial concerns about its viability. Therewere questions about whether different research cultures would clash, whether theycould all agree on hardware and software decisions, whether it was possible to createa fair sharing mechanism for all users, and whether there would be synergy among theusers. VAMPIRE proved that all these concerns could be handled. Jason believes thatVAMPIRE was key in making the idea of an even larger computing facility seem feasible:“VAMPIREwas critical because it showed that an interdisciplinary team of investigatorsfrom across the entire university could come together and work on a project.It brought the School of Medicine, School of Arts and Sciences, and School ofEngineering together on a single project. It got us talking to one another. That in andof itself is a tremendous achievement for the university. ...VAMPIRE provided a focalpoint for bringing together investigators. It was a successful pilot project that showedthat we could all work together towards a common goal.” Building on the achievementsof VAMPIRE, Paul, Ron, and Jason developed the idea for a scientific computingcenter (SCC). It would not merely be a larger system accommodating more usersbut would also entail educational outreach efforts to introduce inexperienced users tothe world of HPC.Paul agrees that VAMPIRE was essential to the development of a more comprehensivecomputing center for the university: “In our minds, we were going to see howthis [VAMPIRE] went. This was a test case to see if we could work together. Alwaysin the back of my mind, I knew that I was going to need significantly more computing.There was never any question in my mind that I was going to have to find some wayto get it. Exactly how much wasn’t clear. Once we got things together and working andmoving forward, we realized that we could work together, and it was a great idea. Italways seemed to us that we were going to grow.There was talk very early on of a largesystem. It wasn’t the SCC, but there was talk of a large facility. The SCC and its ideadeveloped and grew over time.”Another important lesson learned from VAMPIRE was that the education outreachefforts and attracting new users were possible. Paul emphasized this point: “We real-