Fred Kitchens, an information systems and operation management professor overseeing the project, believes a cluster or grid computer system would benefit many of the airport's current management operations.

Through Ball State's  Business Fellows program, Kitchens and the students are working directly with BAA-Indianapolis, the world's largest airport management company that operates the Indianapolis airport., Kitchens and the students are working directly with BAA-Indianapolis, the world's largest airport management company that operates the Indianapolis airport.

A cluster or grid computer is a network of personal computers networked together to harness their cumulative power and available resources. As a result, the enhanced system can outperform traditional supercomputers at a fraction of the cost. Other benefits may include faster processing speed, superior database capabilities, significantly less downtime, improved disaster recovery and continuous operation at a fraction of the cost associated with a traditional supercomputer.

"Right now our students are taking a look at the airport's operations to determine the potential benefits and best implementation strategies for a cluster computer system," Kitchens said. "Since supercomputers have been replaced by clusters and grids, there have recently been some major applications developed to make clusters more user-friendly for corporations and other private business entities.

"In addition to superior processing capabilities and lower costs, a cluster computer can be distributed throughout a facility and then networked together," he said. "If there is a terrorist attack or natural disaster like a major storm that wipes out part of a complex containing a portion of the network, the system can still function with the remaining components of the grid still in existence."

Kitchens and his students will meet with BAA-Indianapolis officials in January to give their first status report and conduct further investigation into the airport's network infrastructure. The final analysis is due next April.

"Over the next several months, our students will get first-hand experience in project management," Kitchens said. "Not only do the students get to apply the things they've learned in class, but they also learn to work as a team. They'll learn how to use each other's diverse backgrounds and various majors as strengths to complete the project."

Ball State's first cluster computer was developed in the fall of 2001 as part of a student-team project in a class taught by Kitchens in Ball State's Miller College of Business. In 2003, Siligi Solutions LLC, became the first company to enlist the cluster computer to test a new program for the U.S. Department of Defense. In 2004, Kitchens directed a similar team of students from the Business Fellows initiative to work with Paragent LLC.

Kitchen's students are posting their accounts of the project on a newly created blog, which may be found at http://ccrpbsu.iweb.bsu.edu.

Business Fellows, coordinated by Ball State's Career Center and funded by a $1.5 million grant from Lilly Endowment Inc., gives Ball State students the opportunity to turn academic knowledge into business solutions through intense, semester-long applied work experiences that will benefit an Indiana business, industry or organization. The program, works in concert with Ball State's Building Better Communities initiative.

Building Better Communities is an initiative designed to spur economic development and quality of life advancement in Indiana by applying Ball State's strengths in applied research and hands-on learning to projects across the state. Building Better Communities works to match the university's expertise and resources to the varied needs of Indiana communities.

(Note to editors: For more information, contact Kitchens at fkitchens@bsu.edu or (765) 285-5305.)