Abstract glowing chip circuit hologram on dark backdrop. CPU and metaverse concept. 3D Rendering
The National Science Foundation (NSF) has announced a major investment to build a new Leadership-Class Computing Facility (LCCF) facility at The University of Texas at Austin. The project is set to revolutionize computational research and development.
Encompassing large-scale automation and artificial intelligence applications, high-end computation has emerged as a transformative force driving innovation and efficiency across various industries. Set to operate under UT Austin’s Texas Advanced Computing Center (TACC), the LCCF will provide the computational resources required to address some of the most pressing challenges in scientific research, engineering, and data analysis.
According to the UT Austin news release, the initial investment by NSF will be $457 million for construction. The operations are set to begin in 2026, at which point the LCCF will become the largest academic supercomputer in the NSF portfolio dedicated to open-scientific research.
The facility will house the Horizon supercomputer, which is equipped with multiple accelerators to support advanced AI research and simulation-based exercises. With its large-scale data storage systems and interactive computing capabilities, Horizon is set to deliver a tenfold simulation performance improvement over NSF’s current Leadership-Class Computing system, Frontera. The improvement in AI performance is even more impressive, with a 100x increase over Frontera’s capabilities.
The LCCF facility will feature specialized accelerators for state-of-the-art AI research and more general-purpose processors for other diverse needs across the scientific disciplines.
Along with hardware upgrades, the new LCCF facility will also have a wide suite of software and service enhancements to maximize the utility of LCCF and allow it to have a broader class of applications. While the facility will be open to scientists nationwide, the allocations will be based on open peer-reviewed processes.
“LCCF represents a pivotal step forward in our mission to support transformative research across all fields of science and engineering,” said NSF Director Sethuraman Panchanathan, in the agency’s announcement. “This facility will provide the computational resources necessary to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time, enabling researchers to push the boundaries of what is possible.”
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With its cutting-edge research capabilities and state-of-the-art facilities, TACC is recognized as one of the top academic supercomputing centers in the county. The UT researchers have harnessed the power of supercomputing facilities at TACC to model the coronavirus in the early stages of the pandemic and to enhance the speed and accuracy of storm surge forecasts during hurricanes
The facility’s contributions extend beyond technological prowess, as it helps facilitate collaborations. The new LCCF will collaborate with four university centers to strengthen the country’s cyberinfrastructure capacity. The four organizations include the Atlanta University Center Consortium, the Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center at Carnegie Mellon University, the National Center for Supercomputing Applications at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, and the San Diego Supercomputer Center at the University of California San Diego.
In addition, Cornell University will aid workforce development, while The Ohio State University will assist in the development of the software stack required to support high-performance networking.
The LCCF represents a pivotal step forward in advancing UT’s 10-year strategic plan to become the “highest-impact public research university” in the world. A key component of the plan is to focus on Technology and Society as the top primary research areas.
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