Research Computing Technical Committee

Committee Overview

Purpose and Scope:

The Research Computing Technical Committee (RCTC) is a strategic body convened under the SDSU Information Technology Governance Council (ITGC) to advance and coordinate research cyberinfrastructure (CI) across the university.

The committee provides institutional alignment for high-performance computing (HPC), research data infrastructure, advanced networking, secure research environments, and emerging computational technologies to support SDSU’s R1 mission.

Charge:

• Defining a campus-wide strategy for research cyberinfrastructure
• Aligning distributed research computing resources into a coherent institutional ecosystem
• Establishing governance models for shared research computing services
• Strengthening secure and compliant environments for regulated research (e.g., HIPAA, CUI, CMMC, ITAR)
• Improving scalability, reliability, and sustainability of research infrastructure
• Enabling equitable access to advanced computing and research data resources
• Promoting collaboration among central IT, colleges, labs, and the Research Foundation
• Positioning SDSU competitively for large-scale grants and infrastructure funding (e.g., NSF, NIH, DOE)

Key Objectives & Focus Areas

Strategic Objectives:

• Advance SDSU’s cyberinfrastructure maturity in support of R1 research growth
• Modernize and scale HPC, storage, and research data services
• Reduce fragmentation across college- and lab-based computing environments
• Strengthen grant-aligned infrastructure planning and cost recovery models
• Enhance compliance and security posture for federally funded research
• Support AI, machine learning, simulation, and data-intensive research workloads
• Build workforce capacity through training, documentation, and researcher enablement

Research Computing Focus Areas:

1. High-Performance & Advanced Computing
   • Institutional HPC strategy and architecture
   • Cloud integration and hybrid computing models
   • GPU and AI infrastructure planning
   • Shared vs. dedicated research computing environments
2. Research Data Infrastructure
   • Secure storage tiers (active, archive, cold storage)
   • Data lifecycle management
   • Data transfer and high-speed networking
   • FAIR data principles and data management plan (DMP) alignment
3. Secure & Regulated Research Environments
   • Controlled research environments (e.g., HIPAA, CUI, CMMC, ITAR)
   • Identity and access management for research
   • Monitoring, logging, and audit controls
   • Risk-based governance models
4. Governance & Sustainability
   • Service ownership and operational models
   • Cost allocation and recharge structures
   • Infrastructure lifecycle planning
   • Policy alignment with campus governance
5. Researcher Experience & Enablement
   • Onboarding pathways for faculty and labs
   • Training programs (HPC, AI/ML, data science)
   • Documentation and consultation services
   • Community building across research domains

Initiatives in Motion

SDSU Research Cyberinfrastructure Modernization Initiative

A single, trusted view of what exists (services, tools, people, capacity, policies), how to access it, what it costs, what it supports, and what’s missing so campus units operate in alignment and researchers navigate services with clarity and speed.

Scope Highlights:

• Phase 0 – Define Scope & Standards: Establish a shared definition of research cyberinfrastructure, agree on lightweight metadata standards, and identify service owners across units.
• Phase 1 – Discover & Document: Rapidly inventory existing cyberinfrastructure services, platforms, and capabilities across campus using a streamlined intake process.
• Phase 2 – Normalize & Align: Categorize offerings, clarify ownership and dependencies, identify overlaps and gaps, and validate findings collaboratively.
• Phase 3 – Publish & Enable Access: Launch a researcher-facing service catalog with clear access pathways and a unified intake process.
• Phase 4 – Act & Sustain: Use the inventory to prioritize investments, strengthen coordination, reduce friction, and establish an ongoing governance and review cycle.