For Immediate Release
December 22, 2008
Energy Department Awards PPPL Scientists 56 Million Hours
of Supercomputing Time to Advance Three Scientific Research Projects
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For Immediate Release Energy Department Awards PPPL Scientists 56 Million Hours of Supercomputing Time to Advance Three Scientific Research Projects |
Plainsboro, New Jersey — Three research projects involving four scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) have been awarded a total of 56 million processor hours on supercomputers at Argonne National Laboratory in Illinois and Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee. The researchers will be using the time for fusion energy-related research regarding plasma turbulence simulations. Plasma is a hot, gaseous state of matter used as the fuel to produce fusion energy — the power source of the sun and the stars.
The projects are among 66 awarded nearly 900 million processor-hours by the DOE's Office of Science. Announced December 18, the awards are made through the 2009 Innovative and Novel Computational Impact on Theory and Experiment (INCITE) program, a DOE program that supports computationally intensive, large-scale research projects. Twenty-five new and 41 renewal projects will have access to some of the world's most powerful supercomputers at DOE national laboratories. "From understanding the makeup of our universe to protecting the quality of life here on earth, the computational science now possible using DOE's supercomputers touches all of our lives," said DOE Under Secretary for Science Raymond Orbach, who launched INCITE in 2003. By dedicating time on these supercomputers to carefully selected projects, we are advancing scientific research in ways we could barely envision 10 years ago, improving our national competitiveness. Physicists Stephane Ethier, Greg Hammett, David Mikkelsen, and William Tang are the PPPL scientists involved in projects awarded. Ethier is a Raritan Borough resident, Hammett is a Plainsboro Township resident, and Mikkelsen and Tang are Princeton Township residents. Tang, Chief Scientist at the Laboratory, is the principal investigator on a renewal award receiving 6 million processor hours on the IBM Blue Gene/P at Argonne. Ethier is one of the co-investigators on the project, which received 2 million processor hours last year. Ethier is also a co-investigator on a renewal award for a project receiving 30 million processor hours on the CRAY XTs supercomputer at Oak Ridge. A researcher at the University of California, San Diego, leads this project. Hammett and Mikkelsen are co-investigators on a new award for a project receiving 20 million processor hours on the CRAY XTs. A Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory researcher leads this project. PPPL Director Rob Goldston said, Advanced computing is a very important tool in our research, so getting access to time on the most powerful computers is critical. We are pleased that our applications for time on these powerful facilities have been so favorably reviewed. To read about all the 2009 INCITE awards, go to the DOE Office of Science home page at http://www.sc.doe.gov/ascr/incite. |
PPPL, funded by the U.S. Department of Energy and managed by Princeton University, is a collaborative national center for science and innovation leading to an attractive fusion energy source. Fusion is the process that powers the sun and the stars. In the interior of stars, matter is converted into energy by the fusion, or joining, of the nuclei of light atoms to form heavier elements. At PPPL, physicists use a magnetic field to confine plasma. Scientists hope eventually to use fusion energy for the generation of electricity. http://www.pppl.gov/
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| For further information, please contact: | |
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Anthony R. DeMeo Head, Information Services Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (609) 243-2755 ademeo@pppl.gov |
Patricia Wieser Information Officer Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (609) 243-2757 pwieser@pppl.gov |