PSAAP III Centers will be funded by NNSA’s Advanced Simulation and Computing (ASC) program, which directs research and development activities to maintain the safety, security, and effectiveness of the Nation’s nuclear weapons stockpile.

“The stockpile stewardship mission is founded on a scientifically credible modeling and simulation capability underwritten by experiment,” said Dr. Mark Anderson, Assistant Deputy Administrator for Research, Development, Test and Evaluation in NNSA’s Office of Defense Programs. “The PSAAP integrates modeling, simulation, and experiment in a manner that contributes to the nuclear security mission and prepares the next generation of scientists and engineers for careers in national security.”

Nine universities were selected either as a Multidisciplinary Simulation Center (MSC), a Single-Discipline Center (SDC), or a Focused Investigatory Center (FIC). Each MSC will receive up to $16.5 million, each SDC up to $9.5 million, and each FIC up to $5 million total over the course of five years under NNSA’s PSAAP III cooperative agreements. The following universities were awarded cooperative agreements:

• Massachusetts Institute of Technology: Center for the Exascale Simulation of Material Interfaces in Extreme Environments (SDC)
• Oregon State University: Center for Exascale Monte Carlo Neutron Transport (FIC)
• Stanford University: Integrated Simulations using Exascale Multiphysics Ensembles (MSC)
• University at Buffalo: Center for Exascale Simulation of Hybrid Rocket Motors (SDC)
• University of Colorado at Boulder: Center for Micromorphic Multiphysics Porous and Particulate Materials Simulations with Exascale Computing Workflows (MSC)
• University of Illinois: Center for Exascale-Enabled Scramjet Design (MSC)
• University of Texas at Austin: Exascale Predictive Simulation of Inductively Coupled Plasma Torches (MSC)
• University of Maryland: Solution Verification, Grid Adaption and Uncertainty Quantification for Chaotic Turbulent Flow Problems (FIC)
• University of New Mexico: Center for Understandable, Performant Exascale Communication Systems (FIC)

The ASC Academic Alliance Program was formed in 1997 to engage the U.S. academic community in advancing science-based modeling and simulation technologies. In 2008, the next phase of the Academic Alliance Program, PSAAP I continued with added emphasis on validation, verification, and uncertainty quantification. The program continued in 2014 with the establishment of PSAAP II Centers that provided additional focus on extreme-scale computing. These Centers will successfully conclude by end of fiscal year 2020.

PSAAP is managed by the NNSA Office of Advanced Simulation and Computing in collaboration with Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Los Alamos National Laboratory, and Sandia National Laboratories.

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