HPC Visualization
Maine High Performance Computing and Visualization Platform (MCVP)
The department, in collaboration with the CS department at University of Southern Maine, was recently awarded a $20,000 grant from the University System Chancellor’s office. This grant will be used to purchase a cluster of four Tesla S1070 high-performance Graphical Processing Units (GPUs) with a total of 960 processor cores, and a 4X4 high-resolution display wall for each department.
GPUs are being increasingly used as a low-cost supercomputer, and the cluster purchased from this grant will be an important addition to the state s high-performance computing infrastructure. The cutting-edge technologies purchased through this grant will enable new and exciting joint research in the area of remote real-time visualization of scientific data, will provide opportunities to explore the creation of a statewide computational Grid, and will provide a testbed for the K-12 educational outreach activities of the University of Maine Scientific Grid Portal project (directed by Dr. Dickens). Students from both campuses will develop valuable skills in high-performance computing through the use of these (and other) emerging technologies in a new course, Supercomputing Technologies, which will be offered jointly between the two departments via distance education in the spring of 2010.