The National Science Foundation (NSF) has awarded more than $1 million to Colorado State University professors tasked with making computer systems and networks robust enough to handle everything from lightning strikes to terrorist attacks.

The engineering professors, whose grant comes via the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, will devise models and algorithms focused on resource management and gauging system failure probability.

"Uncertainty is the enemy of a robust computer system, but this grant will help us minimize damaging failures and work to build computer systems that perform well through crises," said Tony Maciejewski, head of the Electrical and Computer Engineering department in Colorado State's College of Engineering, in a statement. "As computer systems become more integrated with everyday life, it's really important that they continue to perform critical functions even when there's an unpredicted circumstance."

Joining forces with the CSU researchers are DigitalGlobe (supplies images to Google Maps and Microsoft Virtual Earth) and the National Center for Atmospheric Research.

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