Date: 10/06/2010

Intel, IMEC and five Flemish universities open a lab to develop ultra-super computer software

Intel Corporation, imec and five Flemish universities have officially opened the Flanders ExaScience Lab at the imec research facilities in Leuven, Belgium. The lab will develop software to run on Intel-based future exascale computer systems and is said to deliver u1,000 times the performance of today's fastest supercomputers, using up to 1 million cores and 1 billion processes to do so. The ExaScience Lab will be the latest member of Intel's European research network. Intel Labs Europe consists of 21 labs employing more than 900 R&D professionals.

Breakthroughs in exascale computing could mean the ability to simulate very complex systems like the human body or Earth's climate. If the computing industry is successful it could find cures for diseases or better predict natural disasters. Flanders ExaScience Lab will begin with the simulation and prediction of "space weather," or electromagnetic activity in the space surrounding Earth's atmosphere. Solar flares i.e. large explosions in the Sun's atmosphere can cause damage to electric power networks, pipeline systems and the quality of wireless communication. To accurately predict and understand the effects, exascale computing power is needed. Likewise the software findings will be used for many other purposes

The current design of exascale computers using current technology and design methodologies could result in the systems becoming extremely hot and require a power plant to deliver the power needed to run them. The systems consists of millions of cores, getting all of them to work together for an extended period of time also represents a challenge. Hence, completely new computer programming methods and software will be required to bring power consumption to acceptable levels and to make the system fault tolerant. Power and reliability will be key challenges that will need to be understood to turn the vision of exascale computing into reality.

"Intel's long-standing and fruitful relationship with imec was instrumental in developing this unique opportunity," said Stephen Pawlowski, Intel Senior Fellow and general manager of Intel's Central Architecture and Planning. "We are excited to embark on this innovative collaboration in Flanders, bringing together scientific expertise in the fields of space weather prediction, computational simulation, reliability, visualization and performance modeling."

The Flanders ExaScience Lab kicks off with close to two dozen researchers and will add another dozen or so by 2012. The lab will be hosted at imec and is supported by the Flemish Government agency for innovation by science and technology (IWT).

"We are excited about this unique collaboration with Intel and five Flemish universities here at imec, said Luc Van den hove, president and CEO of imec. "By sharing our expertise, I'm convinced that the Flanders ExaScience Lab will bring valuable software solutions for Intel's future exascale computers. I would like to express my thanks to the Flemish government, Flanders Investment and Trade and the IWT for supporting this lab, and I'm looking forward to this long-term strategic partnership."