IBM to double University of Louisville supercomputer CRC's computing power

The University of Louisville (UofL) said yesterday that IBM would double its high performance computing power as part of a $1.8 million investment in their supercomputing system. 

The new capacity will enable the university to proceed with advanced research projects such as discovering new approaches for treating pediatric cancer and developing better materials for solar power both of which are at critical development stages.

The updated supercomputer, nicknamed the Cardinal Research Cluster (CRC), was officially 'powered up' this month and will provide researchers at the UofL with much needed computing capacity.  The initial system, first installed in 2009, was working at 100 per cent capacity as researchers tested the limits of the IBM iDataPlex high performance computing cluster. 

With this smarter computing system that is designed and optimised to meet the University's high capacity needs, researchers can speed up potential medical breakthroughs.

For example, researchers at the UofL James Graham Brown Cancer Center working on cancer treatments for the last three years have screened over 200 cancer targets. The enhanced computer will enable an additional focus on pediatric cancers, such as Neuroblastoma and Ewing's Sarcoma.

The supercomputer is also helping UofL researchers at the Conn Center for Renewable Energy Research explore new approaches for capturing solar energy. Work is now underway to develop new semiconductor materials that can efficiently capture and store solar energy.