English professor earns NSF grant to open the black box of the world’s second exascale computer

A professor in Clemson University's Department of English has been awarded a six-figure research grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to conduct extensive fieldwork and interviews at Argonne National Laboratory about the launch of the Aurora Exascale Supercomputer, which will be only the second supercomputer in the world able to operate at the exascale level.

Jordan Frith, the Pearce Professor of Professional Communication, will collaborate with Sarah Read, the director of professional and technical writing in the English department at Portland State University, thanks to a $214,000 grant award split evenly between Clemson and Portland State on the project titled, "Exascale supercomputing: Tracing the socio-technical alliances that enable big science."

I'm very excited to start working on this project. I'm especially proud that two English professors were awarded funding by the NSF, a prestigious STEM-focused federal agency."

JORDAN FRITH, PEARCE PROFESSOR OF PROFESSIONAL COMMUNICATION

The research will include multiple elements, including fieldwork to analyze the work necessary to launch a massive supercomputer, interviews with scientists using the supercomputer, and analyses of the geopolitical dynamics driving the supercomputer race between the United States and China. The research grant also creates educational opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students at the two universities, according to the project's proposal.

Explaining the ordinary within the extraordinary

Frith and Read aim to open the "black box" of supercomputing to the public, revealing insight into the everyday life of those who keep it running.

The two want to provide the public with general information about the $500 million supercomputer and explain what a supercomputer does, what scientists and staff do at the center and how it affects the populace. The Aurora supercomputer, for example, aims to allow scientists to create more realistic climate models, build fusion power plants and understand the nanoscience behind new materials, according to the DOE's exascale fact sheet.

"This project is designed to deepen public understanding of massive supercomputing infrastructures for generating new forms of knowledge," Frith said.

What comes next

The researchers have been invited by Argonne National Laboratory Division Director Michael Papka to conduct on-site and remote observational and interview research on the people and processes surrounding everyday practices at Aurora.

The second phase of work will focus on the "higher-level examinations of how the global competition for supercomputing leadership has been shaped by, and also shapes, the country's identity as a leader in scientific and technological advancement," Frith said.

The project also includes archival research to trace the geopolitical push for faster supercomputing, a source of competition between the United States and China. Work is set to begin this fall, and final reports are tentatively scheduled to be presented in summer 2026.

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