About a dozen students participating in Ball State's Cluster Computer Research Project are pre-testing software created by Siligi Solutions LLC, for use by the U.S. Department of Defense.

Ball State was selected to handle the testing because of the College of Business' reputation in the area of information systems, said Donald Kaczmarek, a 1985 Ball State graduate and company president.

"I can't go into much detail because it is a defense department contract, but I want the students to try to break the program over the next several months," Kaczmarek said. "Government software systems are integrated and we need to determine where the problems may lie.

"The plan is for the students to feed as much data into the system until it no longer works or slows down significantly," he said. "I selected Ball State because I wanted a group of young people who are free thinkers and not a bunch of people worn down in some corporation."

Students will be using the university's cluster computer, an independent network of discarded personal computers that are networked together to harness their cumulative power.

The result is a system that outperforms traditional supercomputers. The benefits are faster processing speed, and superior database capabilities, at a fraction of the cost associated with a traditional supercomputer.

The university's first cluster computer was developed in the fall of 2001 as part of a project in a class taught by Fred Kitchens, an information systems professor and director of the Cluster Computer Research Project.

Kitchens said the project's first public-private venture would be a powerful learning experience for his students.

"It is a great opportunity for us to be involved in cutting-edge technology," he said. "It gives the students a better understanding, through hands-on experience, of some of the concepts we discuss in our classes."

Kaczmarek, who was an offensive lineman on the Ball State football team from 1980 to 1985, anticipates that as his year-old company expands, Ball State students will be able to participate in other projects.

"My goal is to keeping feeding projects to Ball State because I have a great deal of pride in the university," said Kaczmarek, who also is a member of the Information Systems and Operations Management (ISOM) Advisory Board and several other advisory boards on campus.

(NOTE TO EDITORS: For more information, contact Kitchens at fkitchens@bsu.edu or (765) 285-5305. Kaczmarek may be reached at kaz@silig.com or (317) 598-9733.)