University of Alabama to build $96 million high-performance computer center

The University of Alabama plans to build a new $96 million high-performance computer center on the eastern edge of the Tuscaloosa campus.

The 40,000-square-foot High Performance Computing and Data Center will host a connected computing system that will be the fastest in the state, according to a Tuesday news release from UA. Construction on the center is expected to be completed in August 2026.

More: University of Alabama President Stuart Bell expects record enrollment this fall

Allen Parrish, UA’s interim vice president for research and economic development, said that high-performance computing is vital for scientific discovery and will provide an advantage for students.

“The High Performance Computing and Data Center touches every discipline on campus and is an opportunity to incorporate technology in the university’s entire fabric to engage and prepare students for their careers,” Parrish said in the news release. “This center will be a driver for developing a highly skilled workforce that will spur economic development for the 21st century in Alabama.”

The center is being funded through a $44.5 million disbursement from the United States Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology and a $46 million supplemental appropriation from the state of Alabama’s Education Trust Fund.

UA says that in addition to helping attract first-rate faculty members and high-achieving students, the center will also position UA for more industrial, government and peer partnerships. Those partnerships will enhance economic development and intensify discovery, particularly in water, transportation, cybersecurity and human well-being.

In the news release, UA President Stuart Bell emphasized how funding the center will particularly bolster UA's burgeoning role in the study of water.

“This funding will greatly enhance UA’s ability to make scientific and engineering advances that support critical work in water security, as well as research in a variety of areas of water-related science,” Bell said.

“Not only will it strengthen collaboration across the UA System and between our students and key players in the growing water industry and other scientific research areas, but it will also develop the technical skills that our students can then apply in valuable careers that will support new industry opportunities in our state,” he said.

UA says it is already guiding innovation nationally in hydrological research through the Alabama Water Institute and the Cooperative Institute for Research to Operations in Hydrology, while also forging a close relationship with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Water Center and the coming U.S. Geological Survey Hydrologic Instrumentation Facility, both of which are on the Tuscaloosa campus.

“The hydrological research conducted at the University of Alabama is critical to our country’s national security and future,” said U.S. Sen. Katie Britt, R-Alabama, in the announcement of federal funding for the center. “This targeted, strategic federal investment will enable researchers across the University of Alabama System to continue to make groundbreaking discoveries and contributions to our state and nation.”

UA System Chancellor Finis St. John IV said the funding is vital to support the university’s mission.

“We are grateful to Sen. Britt and the Alabama Legislature for their support of this project, which is critical to the UA System’s longstanding priority of fostering a knowledge-based economy in Tuscaloosa and across the state,” he said.

Reach Ken Roberts at ken.roberts@tuscaloosanews.com.

This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: High-performance computer center planned at University of Alabama