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Seven ORNL researchers named 2019 INCITE award winners

Posted at 1:01 pm November 21, 2018
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s Jeremy Smith is studying the recalcitrance of biomass to enable cheaper, more efficient biofuels, and other high-value chemicals. (Image courtesy ORNL)

Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s Jeremy Smith is studying the recalcitrance of biomass to enable cheaper, more efficient biofuels, and other high-value chemicals. (Image courtesy ORNL)

 

Seven researchers from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory have been chosen by the Innovative and Novel Computational Impact on Theory and Experiment, also known as INCITE, program to lead scientific investigations that require the nation’s most powerful computers, a press release said.

INCITE awards computing time via a proposal process to researchers seeking to harness the power of DOE computing systems at the Argonne and Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facilities to solve some of the world’s greatest scientific challenges, the press release said.

Since INCITE’s inception in 2004, the ALCF and OLCF have continuously undergone significant upgrades to retain their edge in facilitating the most computationally demanding scientific projects. The ALCF’s most recent machine is Theta, an 11.69-petaflop Cray XC40 system whose 280,000-plus cores make it ideal for research at the nexus of simulation, data science, and machine learning. An even more powerful system, the exascale Aurora, is planned for deployment in 2021 and is projected to be capable of a quintillion (one billion billion) calculations per second. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Front Page News, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Science, U.S. Department of Energy Tagged With: ALCF, Gaute Hagen, INCITE, Innovative and Novel Computational Impact on Theory and Experiment, Jeff Nichols, Jeremy Smith, Judy Hill, Markus Eisenbach, Nouamane Laanait, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, OLCF, ORNL, Paul Kent, summit, Theta, Thomas Maier, Titan, U.S. Department of Energy, W. Raphael Hix

Air Force, ORNL partner in high-performance computing & weather modeling system

Posted at 12:50 pm September 5, 2018
By Oak Ridge Today Staff Leave a Comment

To extend its weather modeling capabilities, the U.S. Air Force has joined the computing experts at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory in a strategic collaboration that includes procurement and operation of a new high-performance weather modeling computer system. Key members of the Air Force and ORNL teams gathered on July 10, 2018, to kick off the project and tour the facilities supporting the new system. (Photo courtesy ORNL)

To extend its weather modeling capabilities, the U.S. Air Force has joined the computing experts at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory in a strategic collaboration that includes procurement and operation of a new high-performance weather modeling computer system. Key members of the Air Force and ORNL teams gathered on July 10, 2018, to kick off the project and tour the facilities supporting the new system. (Photo courtesy ORNL)

 

For the U.S. military, accurate weather prediction is vital to both the planning and execution of worldwide missions. To extend its weather modeling capabilities, the U.S. Air Force has joined the computing experts at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory in a strategic collaboration that includes procurement and operation of a new high-performance weather modeling computer system. Key members of the Air Force and ORNL teams, including computing and global security team members, gathered on July 10 to kick off this project and tour the facilities supporting the new system, according to a story posted by ORNL.

The Air Force 557th Weather Wing provides the Air Force and Army with global- and regional-level numerical weather model forecasts. With the increasing scale of the requirements for the new system, the Air Force and ORNL identified an opportunity to take advantage of the capabilities of ORNL’s National Center for Computational Sciences—including expertise in high-performance computing facilities and infrastructure, systems administration, computing procurement and acquisition, and system operations, the story said.

“We learned about the Air Force’s needs, and it was immediately clear that ORNL could help them solve their problems,” said Jim Rogers, NCCS director of computing and facilities. “We can integrate the Air Force weather team’s needs into our facilities in a cost-effective way, leveraging our capabilities to deliver exceedingly high availability to support their mission.” [Read more…]

Filed Under: Federal, Government, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, ORNL, Slider, U.S. Department of Energy, Weather Tagged With: Air Force 557th Weather Wing, Air Force Weather, DOE, Earth system modeling, GALWEM, Global Air-Land Weather Exploitation Model, high-performance computing, high-performance weather modeling, Jeff Nichols, Jim Rogers, Kate Evans, machine learning, National Center for Computational Sciences, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, ORNL, Ralph Stoffler, U.S. Air Force, U.S. Department of Energy, weather, weather model, weather modeling

Alexander: World’s fastest supercomputer will again be at ORNL

Posted at 10:09 am November 14, 2014
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Summit Supercomputing Press Conference

U.S. Rep. Chuck Fleischmann, second from left, a Tennessee Republican, at a Friday morning press conference at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., with Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz, right; Senator Lamar Alexander, a Tennessee Republican, center; and representatives Bill Foster and Dan Lipinski. (Submitted photo)

 

U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander

Lamar Alexander

Note: This story was last updated at 11:25 a.m.

Oak Ridge National Laboratory will have the world’s fastest next-generation supercomputer, U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander announced at a Friday morning press conference with U.S. Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz.

Alexander, a Tennessee Republican, said the new computer will provide five times the performance of Titan, the current system, and support advanced scientific and materials research to improve economic and national security.

The “next-generation hybrid supercomputer” will be called Summit, and it will be delivered in 2017, the senator said.

“Once again the world’s fastest computer will be in the United States, and once again it will be at Oak Ridge,” Alexander said. “Supercomputing has helped Tennessee become a center for advanced manufacturing with the arrival of new companies, including several in the auto industry, creating thousands of good-paying jobs. Tennessee can continue to thrive and create many more good jobs with the use of this new supercomputer.” [Read more…]

Filed Under: Federal, Government, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Top Stories, U.S. Department of Energy Tagged With: Barack Obama, Bill Foster, central processing unit, Chuck Fleischmann, climate change science, combustion science, Cray, Dan Lipinski, DOE, energy storage, Ernest Moniz, graphic processing unit, hybrid supercomputer, IBM, Jeff Nichols, Lamar Alexander, nuclear power, Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Office of Science, OLCF, ORNL, research, science, summit, supercomputer, supercomputing, technology, Titan, U.S. Department of Energy

New director named at Climate Change Science Institute at ORNL

Posted at 4:46 pm October 21, 2013
By Oak Ridge National Laboratory Leave a Comment

Jack Fellows

Jack Fellows

Jack D. Fellows, who oversaw a $110 billion federal science portfolio under two U.S. presidents and co-founded the U.S. Global Change Research Program integrating all federal Earth system science research programs, has been appointed director of the Climate Change Science Institute at Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

Martin Keller and Jeff Nichols, leaders of the Energy and Environmental Sciences Directorate and the Computing and Computational Sciences Directorate respectively, announced Fellows’ appointment.

“Jack Fellows is a welcome addition to our climate change science program,” said ORNL Director Thom Mason. “His extensive experience in directing research and education programs, most recently as vice-president for the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research, will be particularly valuable as CCSI moves forward in its work of advancing the understanding of the Earth system, describing the consequences of climate change, and evaluating and informing policy on the potential outcomes of responses to climate change.” [Read more…]

Filed Under: Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Science, Top Stories Tagged With: climate change, Climate Change Science Institute, Computing and Computational Sciences Directorate, CSCI, Earth, Energy and Environmental Sciences Directorate, funding, G2Groups LLC, James J. Hack, Jeff Nichols, Martin Keller, National Climate Adaptation Summit, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Office of Management and Budget, research, The Globe Program, Thom Mason, U.S. Global Change Research Program, University Corporation for Atmospheric Research

Tuesday lecture features leader in high-performance computing at ORNL

Posted at 6:13 pm August 10, 2013
By Oak Ridge Today Staff Leave a Comment

Jeff Nichols

Jeff Nichols

A leader in high-performance computing at Oak Ridge National Laboratory will be the featured speaker at the monthly meeting of Friends of ORNL.

Jeff Nichols is associate laboratory director for ORNL’s Computing and Computational Sciences Directorate. Nichols leads the laboratory’s advanced high-performance computing in priority areas such as climate change, nuclear energy, fusion energy, nanotechnology, and biotechnology, a press release said. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Community, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Science, Top Stories Tagged With: Computing and Computational Sciences Directorate, Friends of ORNL, high-performance computing, Jeff Nichols, Leadership Computers as Instruments of Discovery, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, ORNL, University of Tennessee Resource Center

Titan repairs complete, ORNL preparing for second round of supercomputer testing

Posted at 2:51 pm April 8, 2013
By John Huotari 1 Comment

Jeff Nichols and Titan at ORNL

Jeff Nichols, associate director for computing and computational sciences at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, in front of Titan, the world’s fastest supercomputer. (Photos courtesy of ORNL)

Connectors in the Titan supercomputer at Oak Ridge National Laboratory have been repaired, and workers are preparing the world’s fastest machine for a second round of acceptance testing, an official said Monday.

That testing could allow the $100 million machine to be put into full production mode by the end of this month or early May, said Jeff Nichols, ORNL associate lab director for computing and computational sciences.

Titan won’t be available to researchers for a short period while the lab re-runs acceptance tests. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Science, Top Stories Tagged With: acceptance testing, connectors, CPU, GPU, Jeff Nichols, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, ORNL, solder, supercomputer, Titan

Cray re-soldering Titan’s connectors, supercomputer testing could be done in April

Posted at 1:55 pm March 13, 2013
By John Huotari 11 Comments

Jeff Nichols and Titan at ORNL

Jeff Nichols, associate director for computing and computational sciences at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, in front of Titan, the world’s fastest supercomputer. (Photos courtesy of ORNL)

Hundreds of connectors are being re-soldered each week, and the Titan supercomputer at Oak Ridge National Laboratory—the world’s fastest machine—could be in regular production by May, a lab official said Wednesday.

Jeff Nichols, ORNL associate lab director for computing and computational sciences, said connectors on the $100 million computer’s motherboards had too much gold, and solder was interacting with the gold on connector pins, making the solder unstable and leading to cracks.

There are about 20,000 of the pencil-sized connectors, which link central and graphic processing units, or CPUs and GPUs. Each connector has about 100 pins.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Science, Top Stories Tagged With: acceptance testing, blades, cabinets, connectors, CPU, Cray Inc., Cray XK7, gold, GPU, Jeff Nichols, motherboards, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, ORNL, petaflops, solder, supercomputer, Titan

ORNL supercomputer ranks No. 3 on the Green500

Posted at 10:29 am November 16, 2012
By Oak Ridge National Laboratory Leave a Comment

Titan Supercomputer at Oak Ridge National Laboratory

Not only is Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s Titan the world’s fastest supercomputer, it is also ranked third in energy efficiency. (Photo courtesy of ORNL)

Not only is Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s Titan the world’s most powerful supercomputer, it is also one of the most energy-efficient.

Titan came in at number three on the Green500 list. Organized by Virginia Tech’s Wu-chun Feng and Kirk Cameron, the list takes the world’s 500 most powerful supercomputers—as ranked by the Top500 list announced Monday—and reorders them according to how many calculations they can get per watt of electricity.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Science, Top Stories Tagged With: energy-efficient, Green500, Jeff Nichols, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, ORNL, supercomputer, Titan, Top500

World’s fastest supercomputer at ORNL more about research than rankings

Posted at 4:53 am November 13, 2012
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Titan Supercomputer at Oak Ridge National Laboratory

The Titan supercomputer at Oak Ridge National Laboratory is now ranked as the world’s fastest. (Photo courtesy of ORNL)

The No. 1 ranking for the new Titan supercomputer, designating it as the most powerful in the world, was clearly appreciated in East Tennessee on Monday.

But even as they celebrated a return to the top spot, scientists at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, where the giant computer is based, said they are focused more on research than rankings.

“We love being No. 1,” said Bronson Messer, acting group leader for scientific computing at the National Center for Computational Science at ORNL. “It’s great recognition. But what really matters is what science will do with the machine.”

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Science, Top Stories Tagged With: AMD, Bronson Messer, Buddy Bland, CPU, Cray XK7, GPU, INCITE, Jack Dongarra, Jaguar, Jeff Nichols, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, National Center for Computational Science, NVIDIA, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, ORNL, petaflops, Sequoia, supercomputer, Thom Mason, Titan, Top500, U.S. Department of Energy

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Availability of the draft environmental assessment for off-site depleted uranium manufacturing (DOE/EA-2252)

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) announces the … [Read More...]

Public Notice: NNSA announces no significant impact of Y-12 Development Organization operations at Horizon Center

AVAILABILITY OF THE FINAL ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT FOR THE OFFSITE HOUSING OF THE Y-12 DEVELOPMENT … [Read More...]

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