For release 8 May 2001
HKUST DEVELOPS SUPERCOMPUTING PLATFORM WITH AMD SUPPORT
The Physics Department of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) has developed a supercomputing platform powered by AMD Athlon™ processors that could enable researchers to perform realistic modeling and simulation for science and engineering problems.
Entitled “Physics PC Cluster Project” (http://physics.ust.hk/pccluster), this high-performance supercomputing platform is designed to achieve the “Top 500 Supercomputers In The World” list. The computing power afforded by the cluster will outrun many popular commercial supercomputers. It consists of an 80-node PC cluster based on 1GHz AMD Athlon processors, running the Linux operating system. The HK$1.2 M cluster is expected to be completed by June.
To expand the project, HKUST and Advanced Micro Devices Far East Ltd (AMD) signed a Memorandum of Understanding for Cooperation on campus today (8 May 2001). Under this MOU, both parties will jointly explore and plan for a larger and more advanced 128-node project.
“This PC cluster, which uses AMD processors, provides a powerful tool for the advancement of scientific research,” says Associate Professor P W Leung of HKUST’s Physics Department. “We can perform realistic simulations, and design advanced composite materials through accurate modeling. We can also tackle grand-challenge problems involving complex materials where the electronic states are strongly correlated, which is one of the hardest nuts to crack in modern material physics,” he says.
“AMD is excited to be part of this ‘Physics PC Cluster Project’. It once again proves our AMD Athlon processor is a great choice for cutting-edge computer platforms targeted for computation-intensive applications created by academic researchers,” says Raymond Lee, Vice President of AMD Asia Pacific. “As the need for increased performance and bandwidth continues, we are developing more powerful processors to meet that challenge. We eagerly look forward to continuing to support critical research projects at leading academic institutions like HKUST.”
Currently, this Physics PC cluster is being used extensively to model novel complex-structured materials that could form key components of emerging new technologies. These include nano-scaled materials such as carbon nanotubes and magnetic thin films, as well as meso-scaled systems like photonic and sonic band gap materials.
For media enquiries only: Jacky Tsang
Hong Kong University of Science and Technology Tel: (852) 2358-6306
email: patsang@ust.hk
