Dr. Box Leangsuksun has his sights set on improving humanity through an advancement of technology.
Leangsuksun, an associate professor of computer science at Louisiana Tech University, spent much of this past summer in his native home of Thailand working with universities and industry representatives to develop a consortium of researchers to assist each other in future developments.
"We're trying to bring awareness of high-performance computing around the country," Leangsuksun said. "It enables not only in science and research but also can be used in business. High-computing technology can be used with almost anything.
"In Louisiana, you have hurricanes, and severe weather predicting can help disaster preparedness. If we have to move a city of people, moving all of them one square mile is going to cost an estimated $1 million. If we can accurately predict where (the hurricane is) going to land, it saves lives -- and the economy."
In addition to Tech, institutions currently involved in the consortium are Chiang Mai University, Prince Songkla University, Thamasart University, Khon Kean University and the National Electronics and Computing Technology Center of Thailand. Louisiana State University-Baton Rouge and the University of Cardiff have also been invited to join.
One of the accomplishments Leangsuksun achieved this summer was convincing Intel to donate to the Thai universities.
"We have a good relationship with Intel," he said. "I took (the representative) to visit Thailand and to the universities where they do important research. My Intel colleagues donated 64 servers -- 16 servers for each university.
"(The universities) do a lot of important research, like tsunami simulation. Another university is conducting tropical diseases research. We think this technology could help them do better research."
Leangsuksun added these computers will benefit the universities first; the country, second; and the world, third.
"We all have a common focus," he said. "We want to push scientific research so it will be beneficial" -- both to individual countries and to mankind.
Dr. Les Guice, vice president of research and development, said he is pleased with Leangsuksun's accomplishments.
"Dr. Leangsuksun has done a great job in setting up relationships with institutions in Thailand. It's important that we learn to collaborate and work with researchers in other countries," Guice said. "As we move toward a global society, we have to learn to work with other countries."
Leangsuksun was also invited to be a guest on one of Thailand's talk shows to discuss high-performance computing and its impact on humanity.
"I was invited to be on a local television talk show for about 15 to 20 minutes," he said. "I represent Louisiana Tech; I'm not going as an individual … The main focus of the consortium with the universities, Intel and the national lab is to apply high-performance computing and scientific research to benefit the country."
Leangsuksun added that he hopes colleagues from the different countries and educational fields will come together for better research with high-performance computing.
"Instead of using one computer, you can use as many as you need to shorten the time," he said. "Instead of taking 100 hours, it would only take one. High-performance computing is the key."