EXPERTS AND MEDIA
OSU Research on Tap
August 18, 2025
Expert Guest: Dr. Pratul Agarwal, Professor of Physiological Sciences, Associate Vice President for Research, and Director of OSU’s High-Performance Computing Center
"Supercomputers, Computational Biology, and the New Age of AI: Where Do We Go from Here?"
Computers are better than humans at doing certain tasks, such as repetitive math calculations
and making models. More than 20 years, Dr. Pratul Agarwal decided to use computers
to solve mysteries
behind the most fundamental processes of life, including how proteins and enzymes
work. Starting with building computer models of proteins, he realized that for these
models to be accurate, he
needed powerful computers. So, he started using Supercomputers, which perform calculations
thousands to millions of times faster than the average desktop computer. But he got
stuck. The
complexity of biology demanded more computing. So, he decided to take a look under
the hood and see what could be done to make calculations even faster. Fast forward
15 years, he became part of
the community which designs and operates the latest generation of Supercomputers for
the scientific community. Currently, he is deploying the biggest Supercomputer in
Oklahoma. In the last 3 years,
Dr. Agarwal has noticed that the same technology that improved his scientific calculations
was supercharging the next revolution – artificial intelligence (AI) based on large
language models. “I have
seen this movie before, and this time the scale is completely different”, he says.
This conversation with Dr. Agarwal will describe how AI will change education, scientific
research and more, including
jobs in the future and many things in our daily lives.
More Information on the Research on Tap Series...
Upcoming Schedule:
Date | Guest Expert | Topic |
---|---|---|
August 18, 2025 | Pratul Agarwal | How Research on Biomolecules and Genomic Information Led to Leading OSU’s Supercomputing Efforts |
September 15, 2025 | Bree Baker | The Importance of Movement for Aging Adults' Health and Wellbeing |
October 20, 2025 | Kat Gardner-Vandy | STEM Workforce Development as a Braider River: Come Find Your Flow |
November 17, 2025 | Amanda Morris | How Protective Factors Mitigate the Impact of Childhood Adversity and Disrupt the Intergenerational Transmission of Trauma |
December 15, 2025 | Matteo Minghetti | Assessing Environmental Toxins |
January 12, 2026 | Chuck Bunting | Electromagnetic Field Penetration |
February 16, 2026 | Eric Benton | Radiation |
March 16, 2026 | Uma Aryal | Proteomics and Mass Spectrometry Technologies and their Applications in Nutrition and Milk Research |
April 20, 2026 | Jennifer Borland | How Art History Can Inform Us about Medieval Medicine and Science |
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