Fortunately, we are pretty safe from storms in Austin being so far inland. Ike didn't even bring rain here.
Our server, on the other hand, is less fortunate. It was in good hands with my postdoc, Lijun, and I think this new paper is a big step forward in the simulation methodology.
A new student, Rye, is taking over. We've purchased a new server to help cut down on the memory and communication problems. But I think we're settled on switching to boinc to solve our ongoing server issues. In that system, the issuing of work units is separated from any other calculations on the server, so that it is always responsive to client requests.
Our first new project will be to look at dynamics in high-temperature Ni alloys. These will be more expensive calculations, so we'll have to rescale the statistics.
In the long-term, we'll be switching the entire system to quantum calculations. There are still some fundamental issues to work out, but this will allow for modeling reaction dynamics at surfaces. This has great potential for designing new catalysts, particularly for energy conversion applications such as in fuel cell.