Federal grant funds powerful computer at UD

NEWARK, Del. (AP) - July 13, 2009 Physics and astronomy professor Krzysztof Szalewicz says the "kolos" computer can calculate billions of integrals in a second. The supercomputer is named after a Polish physicist who was was once Szalewicz's supervisor.

Any UD researcher with an Internet connection can access the computer.

Szalewicz says researchers will use the supercomputer to predict the properties of matter. The professor and his team are working on ways to anticipate the crystal structure of organic molecules. Knowing how certain medical drugs crystallize inside the human body can be crucial to the pharmaceutical industry.

The grant to purchase the computer came from the Department of Defense.