Advised by Professor of Chemistry, Robert Q. Topper, dual-degree Chemical engineering student Andrew Kim (ChE’25) developed a series of calculations to study the effect of different solvents on electrode adsorption for next-generation sulfur batteries. These series of calculations are in support of his masters’ thesis and calculations are being carried out using JDFTx; an advanced, open-source software package for quantum density functional theory calculations. 

When Kim found that he needed access to more advanced computing platforms, Prof. Topper discovered the NSF ACCESS (Advanced Cyberinfrastructure Coordination Ecosystem: Services & Support) program. This program provides access to NSF-funded supercomputers, specialty computing systems, cloud services and other state of the art computing systems. 

Together, Kim and Prof. Topper crafted and submitted a proposal to the ACCESS program, successfully securing an initial allocation known as an "Explore Project." 

"It's a valuable experience for a student to participate in writing a proposal to get support for their research and project needs," says Prof. Topper. "This program is a terrific way for the nation's NSF-funded computing centers to give greater access to high-performance computing systems and support the next generation of engineers and scientists." 

With this grant, Kim will gain access to GPU-integrated computer clusters, an architecture fully supported by JDFTx, allowing him to perform the complex simulations required for his thesis. If this project yields promising results, Prof. Topper envisions seeking further support from NSF for his research in computational chemistry.