The U.S. Army Research Laboratory has awarded a contract valued at $215 million to a consortium of research groups and universities, including the University of Texas at El Paso, to manage the Army’s High Performance Computing Research Center.

The consortium includes High Performance Technologies, Inc. (HPTi), NASA Ames Research Center, Stanford University, the University of Texas at El Paso, New Mexico State University and Morgan State University.

HPTi, a private firm based in Reston, Va., will be the consortium’s lead in management of the program and technical support, including the acquisition and installation of high-performance computing equipment. Stanford University will lead the consortium’s research activities.

The program will focus on several research areas, including lightweight combat systems survivability, computational nanotechnologies and biosciences, battlefield network and information sciences, advanced algorithmic development, and other high-performance computing technologies.

Initial funding of the program will last five years, with an optional renewal for another five years. At least 30 percent of funding is designated for minority-serving institutions in the consortium, HPTi officials said.

UTEP will benefit with increased student research and new high-performance computing systems, said UTEP Professor of Computer Science Patricia Teller, who helped lead the university through the competitive application process for the award. The program also will support summer programs and research collaborations.

“The collaboration with Stanford will be very valuable for us,” said Teller. “Our students, both undergraduate and graduate, will definitely benefit with the increased number of research activities.”