Sun's Solaris 10 Operating System-based High Performance Computing Platform Enables State-of-the-Art Computer Modeling for Clemson's Computational Center for Mobility Systems: Clemson University is helping the United States transportation sector shift to a higher gear with the opening of its Computational Center for Mobility Systems (CU-CCMS), a technology anchor of the Clemson University International Center for Automotive Research (CU-ICAR) campus in Greenville, SC. Powered by a high performance computing (HPC) system from Sun Microsystems, CU-CCMS will be a comprehensive, world-class computational center that encompasses a wide range of disciplines under one roof.
CU-CCMS executive director, Dr. James H. Leylek, an internationally recognized expert in computational modeling and advanced methods development, said the center will offer one-stop shopping for clients in mobility industries that include automotive manufacturers and their suppliers, the aerospace industry, motorsports teams, heavy trucks, shipbuilders, aviation and gas turbines companies. "This center will reduce both the time and money that it takes to get an aerodynamically sound vehicle or an optimized engine into the marketplace," Leylek said. "Manufacturers can simulate multiple design options simultaneously by running computations overnight and build the final product only once, instead of the more traditional build-and-test cycles, which drive up cost and time." The ultimate goal of CU-CCMS is to help its clients reduce the overall design-cycle-time of their products.
The Sun Microsystems HPC at the heart of CU-CCMS is designed to help the center’s technical staff handle all phases of multiple, large-scale simulations, simultaneously. The system comprises grid computing, a dedicated high-speed network, servers, storage and archive sub-systems. In addition to its impressive throughput of more than 11 teraflops, this powerful engineering problem-solving system is well-balanced in both CPU usage and RAM, making it especially well-suited for dealing with computations encountered in vehicle aerodynamics and structural analysis programs. Leylek says computations that traditionally required many weeks of around-the-clock processor time can now be completed in just a matter of hours using Sun's complete range of servers; software, including the Solaris 10 Operating System; services; and systems. He adds the center will provide a complete resolution center for just about any problem that can be computed, predicted and simulated in the transportation industry. CU-CCMS will enable engineers to conduct a large number of “what if” type computational simulations, which will result in ideas getting into products, and products making it to the marketplace ahead of competition and at a reduced cost.
The CU-CCMS start-up is funded through a $17 million alliance between Clemson University, the state of South Carolina and Sun Microsystems Inc. of Santa Clara, Calif. The state has provided $8 million in matching funds for research infrastructure. One of the world’s foremost HPC companies, Sun has contributed computing systems and start-up cash to CU-CCMS. Sun also has provided graduate fellowships for Ph.D. students in the Advanced Computational Research Laboratory (ACRL) and the department of mechanical engineering as well as other support and services. "We are delighted to support Clemson in the opening of a world-class automotive research facility in South Carolina," said Kate Driscoll, area vice president for education, research, state and local government of Sun Microsystems. "As universities increasingly make research and economic development an important part of their institutional identities, Sun's high performance computing systems provide the computational power to help them achieve a competitive edge while saving capital costs and expenses related to power consumption, cooling and floor space." CU-CCMS technical staff will be located at temporary headquarters within the Timken Technology Center on the CU-ICAR campus, while the HPC system is housed at the Clemson Computing and Information Technology building in the Clemson University Advanced Materials Center on Clemson Computing and Information Technology (CCIT) infrastructure. CU-CCMS will manage the HPC, with excess capacity available for use by university faculty. Plans are under way for a permanent CU-CCMS building in the Technology Neighborhood 2 on the CU-ICAR campus.
CU-ICAR is a new model for economic development in South Carolina, matching Clemson’s strengths in automotive research with the state’s strong automotive economic cluster. CU-ICAR is a 250-acre “technopolis” where BMW, Michelin, Timken, Sun Microsystems and other corporate partners are joining with Clemson to focus on automotive and motorsports research and other transportation issues. The State of South Carolina is also a key partner, having created legislation to support economic development and innovation. The Carroll A. Campbell Jr. Graduate Engineering Center (CGEC), scheduled to open later this year, is the academic component of CU-ICAR, with the nation's only master’s and doctoral degree programs in automotive engineering. CU-ICAR is located in the Interstate 85 corridor, midway between Charlotte, N.C., and Atlanta, Ga. Connect to
www.clemson.edu and
www.cuicar.com for more information.
