Waynesburg College hosts consortium
WAYNESBURG – The Supercomputing Science Consortium (SC2), held last week at Waynesburg College, featured the kind of complex jargon some might think from an episode of “Star Trek,” but the implications of the technology discussed have a much more universal appeal. A variety of regional experts in computer-research-based businesses attended the seminar focusing on the use of supercomputers for elaborate research projects. Possible developments stemming from supercomputer use include cures for diseases, reducing pollution and improving overall technology.
“Supercomputers are running problems that affect everyday life, like clean energy, and solving high-tech problems in the real world,” said Barbara Kirby, director of Waynesburg College’s Center for Education and Technology and organizer of the event.
Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center (PSC) was one of the main contributors to SC2. Lynn Layman, PSC program director, wanted to offer attendees a chance to make business connections that might one day expand research capabilities.
His company’s supercomputer offers researchers a chance to make previously unimaginable projects possible, humming along at a rate of 6 trillion operations per second. At an impressive size – the machine would cover a basketball court – and boggling calculation abilities, supercomputers can provide data and create simulations of intricate problems.
Since many people have little knowledge of this new technology, the seminar presented detailed information about supercomputers, as well as how to apply for award money to pay for use.
Ten thousand hours of use, considered a marginal time frame in the supercomputer world, costs about $50,000 to rent.
“We wanted to let people know what regional resources there are, including supercomputer time, how to make research proposals to earn grant money and make contacts in the business,” said Layman, who was a founding member of SC2.
Small Business Innovation and Research offers grants to businesses with fewer than 500 employees in the biotechnology fields to pay for supercomputer time.
Layman believes that such grants could produce an increased interest in companies that previously would be apprehensive of the costs and time commitment involved in working with PSC and similar operations.
“We have a self-help philosophy with people who want to work with us. Basically, we offer the resources and then assist them in the process,” Layman said. “Supercomputers can do such impressive things. They can do simulations of a combination of processes, make three-dimensional simulations and give us a chance to study the behavior of flames.”
Layman added that flame behavior, which has puzzled scientists for years, now can be closely studied and simulated, with the hope of one day minimizing emissions from flames and making the possibility of zero emissions a reachable goal.
In its second year of existence, SC2 featured demonstrations and discussions that apply the expansive capabilities of supercomputing with scientific research previously done with much less computing power.
Those taking advantage of the technology will have a leg up on the competition, according to Layman, and will give businesses a chance to do work that cannot be done any other way.
One aspect of this scientific field, advanced 3D imaging, could create improved research capabilities as well as a chance to study real-life situations in a controlled environment.
Joel Stiles, associate professor at Mellon College of Science and PSC at Carnegie Mellon University, gave a demonstration on 3D imaging of objects such as cancer cells and a human body, which appears lifelike with the help of high-performance computers.
He also explained that supercomputers offer people a chance to create a high level of detail and realism efficiently.
“This is a very real niche that will be filled in the next five to 10 years,” said Stiles, a computational physiologist.
“All the rendering (creating the images) time can be offline and then you can download the file onto a DVD and play it on your computer.”
With such remarkable capabilities, those familiar with supercomputers hope to lower the barriers of businesses apprehensive of using such complex technology.
Layman wanted to create SC2 to solve this problem, giving everyone in the field a chance to talk about the innovative possibilities of supercomputers and how to better understand what it can offer.
Members of SC2 include national and regional research groups as well as higher institutions in the area.
With the introduction of EverGreene Technology Park in Waynesburg, SC2 hopes that research laboratories and businesses will be attracted to a direct high-speed fiber-optic wire to PSC and help push the use of supercomputers in the biotechnology fields.
Tom Maiden, user support and outreach specialist for PSC, spoke on a discussion panel on overcoming high-performance computing barriers.
He encouraged those businesses willing to take a chance.
“I think there’s a high-performance computing phobia,” Maiden said. “As a small business, you want to keep up with the Joneses and be the next best thing.”
With the help of SC2, these high-tech phobias of the new age of computing may soon turn into researchers’ regularly looking to supercomputers as a gateway to medical and environmental advancements.