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The 40 processor Silicon Graphics Origin 3800 Supercomputer is the centrepiece of the university's IEP1 million supercomputer facility opened on Monday by Minister for Science and Technology, Noel Tracey, TD.
At its peak, the IEP750,000 supercomputer is capable of making 40 billion calculations per second, which is faster than the combined computational power of more than 100 typical PCs. According to NUI Galway, it is the most powerful computer in Ireland. The 3800 Supercomputer is used by many companies including Volvo for car crash simulations and by The Weather Channel to model global weather and oceanic changes.
"We chose this supercomputer because it was easy to use, had very low running costs and was scaleable," said Dr. Andrew Shearer, lecturer in the university's Scientific Computing Group. "Also, the beauty of this machine is that it will speed up our calculations by a factor of 30." The funding for the supercomputer comes from Ireland's Higher Educational Authority.
In Galway, the supercomputer will be used by the National Centre for Biomedical Engineering Science. According to Dr Shearer, it will help in the design of better medical instruments, aid in the understanding of the chemical behaviour of drugs, and enhance X-rays.
Among the specific research areas where the supercomputer will be used includes the investigation of blood flow in the heart, heat flow and heat loss from patients during surgery.
It will also be used by astronomers at NUI Galway to develop ways of improving X-ray images. Astronomers have been involved in improving images from the Hubble telescope and these same technologies will be used to allow radiologists to identify illnesses earlier, said Dr. Shearer.
In particular, researchers in Galway are to study how improved images can be used to detect small fractures in bones or possibly tumours. Shearer added that in the future these techniques could also have commercial applications such as finding flaws in manufacturing processes.
The supercomputer facility is housed in NUI, Galway's recently opened IEP9.5 million IT building, which is used for IT teaching and research.
Further information can be found at http://www.it.nuigalway.ie/resear/scicomp.html
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