The National Science Foundation (NSF) has awarded a $65 million grant to the University of Tennessee, Knoxville (UTK) to develop Kraken, a state of the art supercomputer. Kraken will enhance the computational power of the TeraGrid, the world's largest, most powerful and comprehensive distributed cyberinfrastructure for open scientific research.

"Like the gargantuan sea monsters Kraken, which inspired the naming of this supercomputer, the possibilities in scientific and engineering advances it enables are enormous, limited only by the confines of human imagination and vision beyond the frontiers of science," said NSF Director Arden L. Bement in a taped message that was played today at a luncheon in Knoxville.

The Kraken Supercomputer is named after the mythical sea monster said to have been seen off the coast of Norway and Iceland. According to sailors' reports, Kraken were creatures of enormous size, who would attack a ship, wrap their arms around the hull and capsize it. The legendary Kraken is probably what we know today as the giant squid. Credit: Pierre Denys de Montfort

Tennessee Governor Phil Bredesen, UTK President John Petersen, Oak Ridge National Laboratory Director Thom Mason, and NSF's Office of Cyberinfrastructure Director Daniel Atkins attended the announcement ceremony.

"This $65 million NSF grant is not only the largest ever received by University of Tennessee, Knoxville; it is the largest research grant ever received by any university in the entire state of Tennessee," Bement said. "It enables an exciting new partnership between the National Science Foundation, the Department of Energy through its Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and the University of Tennessee and various partnering universities."

Watch the video of NSF Director Arden L. Bement's message.

Visit the site with online media resources about Kraken.

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