EPSRC: Launch of new supercomputer for UK researchers

EPSRC logo for press releases

Wednesday, 09, Jan 2008 12:00

Invitation for journalists

Monday 14th January 2008

Bush House

Edinburgh Technopole

Edinburgh

EH26 0BB

(11:45 arrival - with tours of the facility taking place from 12:30)

Four times faster than its predecessor and capable of 63 million million calculations a second - the UK Research Councils today (14th January) officially launch the largest and most advanced supercomputing facility in the UK.

HECToR (High-End Computing Terascale Resources) will facilitate innovative and world leading research and represents the equivalent of approximately 12,000 desktop systems.

Based at the University of Edinburgh’s Advanced Computing Facility (ACF), the £113m service will run for six years and be operated by EPCC (Edinburgh Parallel Computing Centre). The computer is a Cray XT4 system and support for applications software is provided by NAG Ltd. The procurement project for HECToR was funded and managed by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) on behalf of the UK Research Councils.

To get a sense of the capability of HECToR, imagine if it was possible for every person on earth to carry out 10,000 calculations, in a second, at the same time - this is how powerful HECToR is. As one of the largest and most advanced supercomputers in Europe, this UK Research Councils facility will play a key role in keeping scientists at the forefront of their fields of research.

Traditionally, scientific research has been based on the process of theory and experiment. Adding the power of supercomputing simulation to the route of exploration and discovery has moved science to another level. HECToR continues this process by taking high-performance computing up yet another gear.

HECToR will provide UK researchers with the means to undertake increasingly complex computer simulations across a range of scientific disciplines. This will include work in forecasting the impact of climate change, fluctuations in ocean currents, projecting the spread of epidemics, designing new materials and developing new medicinal drugs.

HECToR will be officially launched by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Alistair Darling. The event is being jointly hosted by the EPSRC and the University of Edinburgh.

Notes for Editors:

To attend the official launch of HECToR reply to Natasha Richardson (natasha.richardson@epsrc.ac.uk) with the following details:

Name:

Organisation:

Contact e-mail:

Contact telephone number:

Event programme:

(11:45 start. Tours of HECToR will take place from 12:30)

Welcome Address

Professor Sir Timothy O’Shea,

Principal and Vice Chancellor, the University of Edinburgh

Presentations

“Leadership Computing at Cray”

Peter Ungaro, President and CEO of Cray Inc

“Contribution to UK Science”

John Armitt CBE, Chairman of EPSRC

Formal Launch

The Rt. Hon. Alistair Darling MP, Chancellor of the Exchequer

Champagne Reception

Buffet Lunch and opportunity to tour HECToR facility

The objectives of HECToR are:

to provide a world-class service for UK-based academic research;

to support the development of innovative computational technologies;

to encourage industry and commerce to make effective use of high-end computing;

to work with our colleagues in Europe and worldwide.

HECToR is funded by significant contributions from the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills’ Large Facilities Capital Fund (LFCF) and EPSRC. The LFCF was established to ensure UK researchers have access to leading-edge, large-scale experimental projects and facilities. The Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) and the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) are also contributing financially to the project, emphasising the breadth of science that will be supported. The EPSRC, which is funded by the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills (DIUS), has managed the procurement project for the HECToR service on behalf of Research Councils UK (RCUK). The Research Councils plan long-term to provide UK researchers with access to the best facilities through the biennial RCUK Large Facilities Roadmap.

The facility has been delivered by the HECToR Partners (UoE HPCX Ltd, NAG Ltd, University of Edinburgh, Cray Inc and STFC’s Daresbury Laboratory), a consortium of organisations with international standing and many years of experience in this field.

HECToR’s predecessor, HPCx, is the current supercomputer used for UK academic research. HPCx is also run by EPCC and STFC’s Daresbury Laboratory.

HECToR will have an initial theoretical peak capability of 63 Tflop/s, increasing to approximately 250 Tflop/s peak in October 2009 with a further upgrade planned for October 2011. It covers an area of 1,800 square feet. For more information visit: www.hector.ac.uk

The University of Edinburgh - Established in 1583, the University of Edinburgh is one of the UK's most important and historic Higher Education institutions. World renowned for its research and teaching, it is a member of the prestigious Russell Group, an association of the UK's 20 major research intensive universities. Student numbers currently stand at over 23,000 and the University employs more than 7,000 staff. Further information: www.ed.ac.uk

EPCC (Edinburgh Parallel Computing Centre) and UoE HPCX Ltd -

UoE HPCX Ltd is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the University of Edinburgh. With the signing of the HECToR agreement it holds the contracts to provide both the UK’s national supercomputer services for academia. Its success is based on that of EPCC – a computational science research and technology transfer institute within the University. Founded in 1990, EPCC’s mission is to accelerate the effective exploitation of novel computing solutions throughout academia, industry and commerce. Today, EPCC is the leading computational science technology transfer centre in Europe. Further information: www.epcc.ed.ac.uk

Cray Inc - As a global leader in supercomputing, Cray provides highly advanced supercomputers and world-class services and support to government, industry and academia. Cray technology enables scientists and engineers to achieve remarkable breakthroughs by accelerating performance, improving efficiency and extending the capabilities of their most demanding applications. Cray’s Adaptive Supercomputing vision will result in innovative next-generation products that integrate diverse processing technologies into a unified architecture, allowing customers to surpass today’s limitations and meeting the market’s continued demand for realised performance. Go to www.cray.com for more information.

NAG is a not-for-profit organization which grew out of academia over 30 years ago. NAG's libraries of mathematical and statistical components underpin thousands of programs and applications around the world in industries as diverse as financial analysis, science and engineering, and in academia and research. NAG's HPC team develops software for and supports users on a wide-range of high-end computers throughout the world.

The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) is the UK’s main agency for funding research in engineering and the physical sciences. The EPSRC invests around £740 million a year in research and postgraduate training, to help the nation handle the next generation of technological change. The areas covered range from information technology to structural engineering, and mathematics to materials science. This research forms the basis for future economic development in the UK and improvements for everyone’s health, lifestyle and culture. EPSRC also actively promotes public awareness of science and engineering. EPSRC works alongside other Research Councils with responsibility for other areas of research. The Research Councils work collectively on issues of common concern via Research Councils UK. Website address for more information on EPSRC: www.epsrc.ac.uk/

The Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) is the UK funding agency for research in the life sciences. Sponsored by Government, BBSRC annually invests around £380 million in a wide range of research that makes a significant contribution to the quality of life for UK citizens and supports a number of important industrial stakeholders including the agriculture, food, chemical, healthcare and pharmaceutical sectors. http://www.bbsrc.ac.uk

The Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) funds world-class science, in universities and its own research centres, that increases knowledge and understanding of the natural world. It is tackling major environmental issues such as climate change, biodiversity and natural hazards. NERC receives around £400m a year from the government's science budget which is used to provide independent research and training in the environmental sciences. http://www.nerc.ac.uk

Research Councils UK (RCUK) is the partnership between the UK's seven Research Councils. Through RCUK, the Research Councils work together to champion the research, training and innovation they support. The seven Research Councils are independent non-departmental public bodies, funded by the Science Budget through the Department of Innovation, Universities and Skills (DIUS). They are incorporated by Royal Charter and together manage a research budget of over £2.8 billion a year. http://www.rcuk.ac.uk

For more information (including directions to Bush House) contact: Natasha Richardson at the EPSRC Press Office, tel: 01793 444404, e-mail: natasha.richardson@epsrc.ac.uk

An image (HECToR.jpg) is also available from the EPSRC press office. Suggested caption: ‘HECToR will provide UK researchers with the means to undertake increasingly complex computer simulations - from forecasting the impact of climate change to projecting the spread of epidemics.’