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$70 Million Facility Will House One of World’s Fastest Supercomputers for Scientific Research; Provides Advanced Computing Services to Scientists in Broad Range of Disciplines

Cheyenne LEADS, the Cheyenne-Laramie County Corporation for Economic Development, today celebrated the groundbreaking on the construction of the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) Supercomputing Center, which will house one of the world’s fastest supercomputers for scientific research. Located on 24 acres west of Cheyenne, the $70 million facility will provide advanced computing services to scientists across the nation in a broad range of disciplines, including: weather; climate; oceanography; air pollution; space weather; computational science; energy productions; and carbon sequestration. Construction is scheduled to be completed next summer with research starting early 2012.

According to the selection team, several factors contributed to choosing Cheyenne:

• Cool, dry climate at an altitude of 6,200 ft. eliminates the need for huge air-conditioning systems;
• Strategic location at the crossroads of I-80 and I-25, at major transportation and communication hubs, including two major railroads;
• Access to national fiber optic networks along the I-80 corridor – a major electronic switching center with many high-speed data services;
• Abundant power provided by Cheyenne Light, Fuel and Power;
• Genuine enthusiasm and commitment of Cheyenne officials;
• Wyoming Legislature appropriating $20 million toward the project.

The supercomputing center, a project managed by the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR), will house an estimated 1-1.5 petaflops supercomputer. One petaflop equals one quadrillion (1,000,000,000,000,000) computer operations per second.

“We could get more supercomputing power, almost double as much, and a faster start and larger facility in Cheyenne than any other site,” said Rick Anthes, UCAR president. “And that means you can almost immediately increase the computing power, which supports research in our atmospheric science community.”

“The NCAR facility puts southeast Wyoming on the map in the world of computer technology,” said Randy Bruns, CEO of LEADS. “Several technology companies have expressed interest in building computer data storage centers in Cheyenne because of the new supercomputer. The center solidifies Cheyenne’s position as the northern anchor of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains and an ideal location for future business expansion in the energy and geo science industries.”

NCAR, whose headquarters will continue in Boulder, Co., is federally funded through the National Science Foundation (NSF). The Cheyenne center is a partnership among NCAR, Cheyenne LEADS, NSF, the University of Wyoming, the state of Wyoming, the Wyoming Business Council, and Cheyenne Light, Fuel and Power.

Cheyenne LEADS is a private, not-for-profit organization serving as the economic development entity for the City of Cheyenne and Laramie County, Wyoming. The organization assists non-retail businesses in all phases of relocation or expansion in the area with a primary focus on job creation that brings new wealth into the community.