Research Computing Symposium Showcased UofM Innovation

First-ever event highlighted high-performance computing resources and cross-campus research collaborations

The University of Memphis Research Computing team hosted its first-ever Research Computing Symposium in 2025, a full-day event designed to highlight the growing impact of advanced computational resources on campus. The symposium showcased state-of-the-art tools that accelerate research, increase throughput, and enhance education, while also underscoring the critical role Research Computing plays in providing infrastructure, support, storage, and training for the UofM research community. 

With more than 450 active users across disciplines ranging from chemistry and physics to finance, psychology, and engineering, Research Computing’s resources—particularly the campuswide high-performance computing (HPC) cluster—have become a cornerstone for faculty and student research. The symposium gave faculty members an opportunity to share their projects and allowed students to gain valuable presentation experience while engaging with an audience of peers and colleagues. 

Presentations featured work from across the campus community, including contributions by Reza Nouri (Foti Lab, Mechanical Engineering), Jonathan Epih (Cheng Lab, Chemistry), Jordan Darling (Laradji Lab, Physics), McKenna Lab (Biology), Pankaj Jain (Finance), Ranganathan Gopalakrishnan (Mechanical Engineering), Amirmehdi Mirshahvalad (Finance), Muhammed Dada (Chemistry), Christos Kyriakopoulos (Center for Earthquake Research and Information), Kuruvitage Chameera Chathuranga Silva (CERI), and Benjamin Keller (Physics and Materials Science). 

The event marked an important milestone for Research Computing as an organizational resource, providing a platform to highlight the breadth of computationally driven research at the UofM. Building on the success of this inaugural symposium, Research Computing plans to expand future events to engage not only the campus community but also regional academic institutions, research organizations, and industry partners.