ushering in petascale computing era - agency for … discoveries...help diversify the scope of...

1powering discoveries! April 2010

Institute of High Performance Computing (IHPC) and Fujitsu announced on 19 January an R&D partnership to jointly develop advanced applications technologies for the next generation of scientific computing, known as petascale computing. Partnership will leverage on ASEAN’s fastest supercomputer to develop advanced solutions for key industries in Singapore.

Petascale computing, using sophisticated supercomputers able to undertake a quadrillion (1015) calculations per second, will provide unprecedented computing capability to solve highly complex and challenging scientific and engineering problems. A new set of software applications will be required to effectively use the immense compute power of petascale supercomputers.

A joint team of 20 IHPC and Fujitsu researchers will develop scalable algorithms for petascale computing in the areas of computational fluid dynamics and materials science. The team will harness the compute power of a Fujitsu supercomputer system comprising a cluster of Fujitsu PRIMERGY BX900 blade servers with a peak performance of over 35 teraflops (TFlops) at 91.8 % efficiency with LINPACK program. It marks the first installation of a Fujitsu PRIMERGY BX900-based supercomputer outside of Japan. Housed at A*STAR’s Computational Resource

Ushering in Petascale Computing Era

Centre (A*CRC) at Fusionopolis, this system will be among the top tier of supercomputer sites in the world and the most powerful in Southeast Asia.

The R&D in petascale computing applications will enable a very high degree of fidelity and accuracy, in the study of highly complex real and engineering systems. This know-how will lead to innovative and cutting-edge solutions for advanced applications in diverse areas such as chemicals to info-communications and electronics. It can also address a wider range of large-scale scenarios from weather modelling to studies on infectious diseases.

2 8/9OutreachV-camp Tackles Virtual Reality, Game Development

ResearchAlignment Controlled Growth of Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes on Quartz Substrates

Dr Raj Thampuran, Executive Director, IHPC, says, “Petascale computing is the new frontier in high-performance computing and will open avenues to solve complex problems in the physical and life sciences, as well as engineering. IHPC’s expertise in computational science and engineering complements Fujitsu’s skills in developing new architectures. We are privileged to partner with Fujitsu in this exciting endeavour.” Mr Masaki Kajiyama, President of Singapore operations at Fujitsu Asia adds, “since we started operations in Singapore, we have positioned the country as the showcase for the rest of Asia by

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A Publication Of The Institute Of High Performance Computing MICA (P) No. 132/01/2010

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4/5 EventsIHPC Celebrates Launch of HP Labs Singapore

Dr Raj Thampuran, Executive Director, IHPC (4th from left), A*STAR Chairman Lim Chuan Poh (5th from left) and Mr Koichi Hironishi, Corporate Senior Executive Vice President and Representative Director,Fujitsu Limited (4th from right), together with Fujitsu and A*CRC management, after unveiling a plaque to commemorate the IHPC-Fujitsu R&D partnership.

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2 powering discoveries! April 2010

Outreach

By Corporate [email protected]

Held in Fusionopolis on 16 and 17 March and targeted at lower secondary school students, V-camp is IHPC’s annual event packed with interactive and engaging programmes which turn the image of the boring computing scientist on its head. This year’s programme included a talk by Mick Linden, lead research engineer at Linden Labs. He introduced the world of virtual reality, where the nature of the space you design is limited only by your creativity. Using “Second Life” as a point of departure, Mick highlighted the endless possibilities of how users can portray and identify themselves, how businesses can operate in a virtual environment, and how group interaction in a virtual world complements the real.

More than 40 schools participated in Visualisation Camp, or V-camp in short, with each student immersed in a full day’s worth of simulation, modelling and animation exercises. IHPC gave students an insight into visualisation with its Lightdraw and Tiled Display facilities and students got to know more about virtual reality with a talk by Linden Labs on “Second Life”. Participants also caught a glimpse of state-of-the-art research facilities at Institute for Infocomm Research (I2R). Besides, a first-time collaboration between IHPC and DigiPen Institute of Technology (Singapore) saw its founder Claude Comair conducting ProjectFUN, a hands-on game development workshop, for all V-camp participants.

For a deeper understanding of why science and technology research is important, V-camp brought participants to FusionWorld for a look at A*STAR’s technologies, prototypes and applications, so that they can observe how things work and how collaborations among the biomedical, science and engineering research institutes bring about useful devices and applications which are used in industry and our daily lives.

A visit to facilities at I2R, such as the Human Language Lab where researchers develop technologies useful in speech recognition, machine translation and multilingual computing, helped students understand how scientists work and the impact of their work in services and devices. Similarly, a tour of the Anechoic Chamber,

V-camp Tackles Virtual Reality and Game Development

Mick Linden, Lead Engineer at Linden Labs, talking to V-camp participants.

Students learn about stereoscopic technology at the Tiled Display.

Students Koo Jing Yong (left) and Abbas Ali Mohamed Anas (right) from Gan Eng Seng School react upon finding out they receive a prize for their creativity.


which is used in research involving radiating devices, wireless and antenna applications, gave students and idea of how hi-tech machinery and equipment are required to carry out research. At IHPC, participants were treated to models and simulations, where they learnt more about how these technologies aided in biomedical data visualisation and architectural walkthroughs, before actual, real-life surgery and urban building projects are carried out.

As an added treat to the end of each day’s activities, V-camp students had a hands-on experience in game building, where they could design and develop a game to take home with them. Titled ProjectFUN, this workshop was conducted by Digipen’s founder Claude Comair and Karim Fikani, lecturer from the Department of Computer Science at DigiPen. The classes were engaging and saw many enthusiastic students working in pairs, problem-solving

and analysing how best to build their game. For each session, students whose games showed the best in creativity and skill took prizes home with them.

Kristal Jaclyn (left) from Ang Mo Kio Secondary School, who received a prize, poses for a picture with Claude Comair (right).

Claude Comair, founder of DigiPen Institute of Technology, conducts a game development workshop to a captive audience.

Students and teachers a s s i s t i n g i n t h e workshop view a game created by V-camp participants.


Events

Attended by Minister Lim Hng Kiang, Ministry of Trade and Industry, who graced the event as Guest-of-Honour, A*STAR Chairman Lim Chuan Poh, key management figures, together with representatives from statutory boards and industry partners, HP opened the doors on 24 February to its new HP Labs advanced research facility at IHPC in Fusionopolis. This is the third facility operating in the Asia Pacific region and seventh research facility worldwide.

Also in attendance was Christopher Whitney, who will serve as director of HP Labs Singapore, and Prith Banerjee, senior vice president of research and director of HP Labs worldwide. Guests were treated to a launch video highlighting HP’s developments, capabilities and HP labs around the world.

In his address, Minister Lim said the launch signified a milestone in the partnership between Singapore and HP, and the collaboration will help diversify the scope of R&D here. With cloud computing, cloud data centres and related services predicted to be worth US$150 billion by


IHPC Celebrates Launch of HP Labs Singapore

In 2006, IHPC partnered HP Corporate Labs Palo Alto to develop technologies that will reside on grid computing and shared services platforms, known as the Shared Services Platform (SSP). Over the past years, a combined team of 30 researchers from the IHPC and HP Labs have worked to establish novel shared services delivery models, which are precursors to the present day, much publicised, cloud computing paradigm. This collaborative relationship has blossomed and is set to expand to other leading edge areas in information technology.

2013, test-bedding cloud computing research in Singapore will lead innovation and contribute to the country’s knowledge-based economy.

Dr Raj Thampuran, Executive Director, IHPC noted, “Our public sector R&D institutions can play an important role in supporting commercially driven innovations and co-developing products with industry partnership. The collaboration with HP has been rewarding: we have produced good publications, a book chapter, a patent and received international recognition through awards for our joint efforts.”

IHPC and HP Labs Singapore are already in discussion to advance some of the promising research works from the SSP project, taking after the SSP Model to leverage on diverse expertise within A*STAR. In terms of a current point of emphasis, HP Labs Singapore will engage in critical research that will fundamentally re-examine data centre and application design principles to explore how future cloud computing needs will be met.

Dr Yang Yinping (left) from IHPC’s Advanced Computing Programme gives a demonstration on a software prototype model, an agent-based negotiation service for online business, to Minister Lim Hng Kiang (right) and Chairman Lim Chuan Poh (centre).

Dr Raj Thampuran (left) talks at a media briefing, with Tan Yen Yen (right), V ice Pres i d e nt an d Managing Director, HP Singapore.


The co-location of HP Labs Singapore with A*STAR’s science and engineering research institutes in Fusionopolis allows HP to easily tap on rich scientific expertise, talent and resources residing within this knowledge-driven, R&D focused ecosystem. Over 5 years,

Preparing to launch HP Labs Singapore: from left, Mr Lim Chuan Poh, A*STAR Chairman; Mr Shane Robison, Executive Vice President & Chief Strategy & Technology Officer; Minister Lim Hng Kiang, Ministry of Trade and Industry; Ms Tan Yen Yen, Vice President and Managing Director, HP Singapore; Mr Prith Banerjee, Senior Vice President of Research and Director of HP Labs; Mr Balu Doraisamy, Senior Vice President and Managing Director of HP Asia-Pacific & Japan (APJ); Mr Leo Yip, EDB Chairman and Mr Christopher Whitney, Director, HP Labs Singapore.

Guests mingling over drinks at the HP Labs Singapore launch.

Tan Yen Yen presents a token of appreciation to Chairman Lim Chuan Poh.

a total investment sum of SG$50 million will be invested in the Labs. More than 70 research scientists and engineers from around the region will be brought together to drive innovation and forge key business partnerships within and beyond HP.

Cloud computing: an emerging computing technology that uses the internet and central remote servers to maintain data and applications. Cloud computing allows consumers and businesses to use applications without installation and access their personal files at any computer with internet access. Eg. Gmail, Facebook.


Outreach


Quotes From Our Presenters“With ‘Modelling in Green’ I tried to illustrate the atmospheric environmental issues facing our little island, and how by using HPC resources we can gain a deeper understanding of the situation, which will assist urban planners and policy makers in their decision making processes. The modelling and simulation process can provide detailed information of urban settings in various conditions concerning wind, temperature and humidity, and this level of fidelity cannot be produced by low-order estimation methods when the geometry is as complex as the city. It was a good opportunity to expose the students to how computational science can help deal with environmental issues.” – Dr Chew Choon Seng, Senior Research Engineer from Large-Scale Complex Systems (LCS), IHPC.

“The emergence of polymeric materials such as biopolymers has permeated into many applications in view of the light-weight, cost, physical and barrier properties. However, the majority of petroleum-based plastic products pose disposal problems and contribute to

Kicking Off Seminar Series on a Green Note

IHPC’s first seminar series session at Fusionopolis saw more than 400 students and teachers eagerly anticipating lectures from four researchers who expounded on the theme “Computing in Green”.

waste accumulation. Furthermore, growing environmental awareness and depleting fossil fuel reserves, have increased the demand for products made from materials derived from renewable natural resources. This has paved the way of biopolymers which is a relatively a new class of polymers intended to be decomposed after they served their functional purpose. The presentation seeks to provide an introduction to biopolymers, its applications and the current activities in Singapore.” – Dr Lee Mun Wai, Associate Research Scientist, SIMTech.

“My talk, “Venturing into Green Electronics”, aimed to increase awareness on green electronics and its various applications. I found that the students were attentive and responsive, participating actively during the Q&A session. Some were particularly interested to know more about solar cells. I am sure more students would be willing ask questions and share their opinions, if there was more time.” – Lee Hui Min, Research Officer from Computational Electronics and Photonics Programme (CEP), IHPC.

“I started off the talk “Green Computing: From Computers to Data Centres”, by calculating the power cost for a home personal computer (PC), and introduced green ways to use PCs, for example by powering it off or having it on sleep mode, highlighting the benefits of emails and online resources. Next, I gave tips on buying a buy a green PC and ways to recycle it. Finally, I highlighted the green initiative at Google data centres and how virtualization helps to save resources and costs. This is a great opportunity to educate students in green computing its impact to the environment.” – Dr Qin Zheng, Research Engineer from Advanced Computing Programme (AC), IHPC.

Jerry Lim, Senior Manager, Corporate Communications, speaks to a full house at the Genexis Theatre in Fusionopolis.

Dr Chew Choon Seng, Senior Research Engineer from Large-Scale Complex Systems Programme, in discussion with a student after the seminar.

An enthusiastic student student poses a question during the seminar.

Lee Hui Min, Research Officer from Computational Electronics and Photonics P r o g r a m m e , s t a r t s the seminar with her presentation “Venturing into Green Electronics”.


Mr Masahiko Yamada ( l e f t ) , P r e s i d e n t , Technical Computing Solutions Uni, Fujitsu Limited, presents a token of appreciation to Chairman Lim Chuan Poh (right).

Chairman Lim Chuan Poh (left) and Mr Koichi Hironishi (right) toast with sake to celebrate joint collaborative efforts.

Mr Hironishi (centre) is given a tour of A*CRC facilities.

Dr Raj Thampuran being interviewed by the media.

introducing the best IT solutions and practices from our global experience to local customers and industry partners. This collaboration is the latest milestone in a series of contributions towards Singapore’s continued economic success, and demonstrates our ability to value-add to the nation through strategic partnerships with industry prime movers such as A*STAR.”

As a start, two topics below have been identified as a genesis to this collaboration:

1. Large-scale Simulations of Multi-phase / Multi-component Flows using Lattice Boltzmann Methods (LBM)

This ultilises IHPC’s parallelised LBM codes to solve complex fluid dynamics applications such as drop dynamics, flows instability bubble column and fluid structure interactions. LBM, based on microscopic particle models and kinetic equations, provides alternate numerical treatment required to solve these problems. The LBM method will be further improved for computational efficacy for large scale simulations.

With the completion of this study, it would provide the industry with the possibility of undertaking complex simulations without the need for excess computational resources – hence saving overhead costs and time.

2. Calculations for Adhesion Studies using Quantum Espresso, an Open-sourced Software

Interfacial behaviour of different materials is a key aspect in the functional property of components, particularly in the electronics sector. With the slew of new materials being developed for this sector, studies in adhesion between layers have increasingly become a

key area for R&D. For example, graphene – a single layer of graphite – which has the potential to replace silicon in the next generation of microchips, is a good candidate material to evaluate its adhesive properties with different substrates. In the proposed work, we would first look at adhesion of such materials to a metal substrate, study the addition of nanoparticles to the surface and lastly look at the catalytic properties of nanoparticles. The need for large scale computing is imperative when performing such complex calculations where the focus will be to develop specific algorithms to accurately predict such behaviour. This will enable engineers to develop application-specific products in a much shorter and cost effective manner.

Ushering in Petascale Computing Eracontinued from page 1


Research

Alignment Controlled Growth of Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes on Quartz Substrates

The electronic properties of devices such as nanotube based transistors and field emitters can be changed with the use of single-walled carb on nanotubes (SWNTs). These can be grown on quartz substrates, where their growth alignment is controlled to produce different structures for different uses. The research focuses on controlling the alignment of SWNTs, which can be grown to suit the needs of different devices and applications.

The attractive charge transport properties of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) make them excellent candidates for various electronic applications, ranging from radio frequency analog devices and flexible circuits to the heterogeneous integration of such systems with silicon complementary oxide semiconductor (CMOS) chips. Large scale, horizontally aligned arrays of SWNTs represent an ideal format for integration, with the demonstrated ability to yield devices with performance approaching expectation based on the intrinsic properties of the constituent SWNTs.

This research presents a comprehensive, combined theoretical and experimental study of the alignment process of SWNTs on quartz during the growth process, and presents strategies to use quartz with different crystal orientations to achieve aligned arrays.

Figure 1: A schematic illustration of the modelled system.

Figure 1 provides a schematic illustration of the modelled system. Figure 2 shows the energy map by molecular mechanics simulations and analytical calculations for SWNTs sitting on Y cut quartz. The orientation angle θ of the SWNT is measured from the x direction. The energy for θ=0 is taken as zero as a reference state. The global energy minima is at 0 degree (x direction), and local minima is at ±48 and ±90 degrees (z direction). The results show that SWNTs aligned along the 0 degree direction are stable.

The energetically favourable orientations, as illustrated by green dashed lines in Fig.1a, can be interpreted in terms of the atomic structure of the quartz. In Fig.1a, the top layer of silicon atoms, which are marked by black triangles, form a rectangular lattice. These silicon atoms also form parallel arrays when viewed along different directions. The 0 degree orientation

By Liu Ping and Zhang [email protected], [email protected]


Figure 3: Scanning electron microscope (SEM) images of SWNTs grown by CVD on Y cut quartz substrates. A, Large area SEM view of aligned SWNTs. Nearly all tubes align along the X direction, independent of chirality or diameter, consistent with theoretical prediction; b, SEM image of aligned SWNTs on quartz, where short segments along the 45 and -45 directions are visible. These directions correspond to local minima in the computed energy maps.

gives the largest spacing between adjacent arrays of silicon atoms, 0.54 nm as shown in Fig.1a. This configuration allows the SWNTs to interact most effectively with quartz and hence gives the global energy minimum. The local minima at ±48 and ±90 degrees can also be similarly explained since they correspond to the next two largest spacing between adjacent arrays of silicon atoms, 0.36 nm and 0.49 nm as shown in Fig.1a.

These trends are consistent with experimental observations shown in Fig.3. The SWNTs have a range of chiralities, with a diameter distribution illustrated by the histogram in the inset of Fig.3a. The primary alignment is along the x direction, but on rare occasion segments of SWNTs can be observed in well-defined off-axis orientations of 45 +/- 5 degrees, as highlighted by circles in Fig.3b. The inset shows a histogram of the frequency of aligned segments versus angle, weighted by segment length.

For SWNTs grown on X, Z and ST cut quartz, the theoretical and experimental results can be found in our published paper (Nano Letters, Vol. 9, Issue 12, 4311).

This research is conducted in collaboration with Professor John Rogers and his group from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and Professor Huang Yonggang and his group from Northwestern University, in Illinois, Chicago.

Figure 2: The energy map by molecular mechanics s i m u l a t i o n s a n d analytical calculations for SWNTs sitting on Y cut quartz.


Research

Molecule-based electronics has attracted a lot of attention in recent years because conventional silicon-based microelectronics such as the metal-oxide semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET) – the basic building block of CPU – will likely reach its limit of miniaturisation soon by the laws of physics. This realisation has sparked an intensive research on molecule-based technologies, which could be the ultimate solution to the scaling problem, to create denser and higher speed transistors in future.

One of the promising molecule-based materials for use in molecular electronics and spintronics applications is the sandwich molecular wire (SMW). SMW is usually constructed with alternating small organic rings such as benzene (C6H6) and transition metals in one-dimension. Its one-dimensional architecture allows effective electron transport and the organic component allows relatively easy modification of wire properties via synthetic techniques. More importantly, the transition metal component supports spintronics applications because of its controllable spin/oxidation states. Possible electronics and spintronics applications with SMW include transistor, high-density storage device and quantum computing.

Sandwich Molecular Wire: A Promising Nanomaterial for Future Electronics and Spintronics

To understand SMW in greater detail, we adopt first-principles calculations to unveil the electronic, magnetic and electron transport properties of several selected SMWs.1-7 To start with, we have calculated and proposed a novel sandwich molecular wire which is constructed by alternating iron atom and cyclopentadienyl (Cp), i.e. [Fe(C5H5)]n. This is the first unique linear molecule which possesses simultaneously the half-metallic (HM), high spin filter efficiency (SFE) and negative differential resistance (NRD).1

However, the physics behind the [Fe(C5H5)]n SMW, especially the roles played by transition metal (Mt) atoms, is still not well understood. As such, we carried out another systematic theoretical study on the mechanism of half-metallicity and ferromagnetism for a series of one-dimensional SMWs constructed with alternating Cp and first row transition metal.2 We find that in (MtCp)∞, one valence electron would transfer from Mt to the Cp ring, forming Cp- and Mt+ altering structures (see Fig.1). This electron transfer not only makes them more stable than the benzene analogues (MtBz)∞ but also leads to completely different half-metallic and ferromagnetic mechanisms. We analyse such unusual half-metallicity and ferromagnetic behaviors and explain each SMW magnetic moment quantitatively.

Besides, we have carried out research on EunCOTn+1 molecular clusters where Eu and COT stand for Europium atom and C8H8, respectively.3 Such a molecular cluster is found to be extremely stable because of its special bonding characteristics: the interior ionic structure is capped by two hybrid covalent-ionic terminals. Nevertheless, the covalent-ionic caps are charge states dependent.

In addition, we have also carried out another research on one-dimensional bimetallic sandwich molecular wires (BSMWs), in particular, the (CpFeCpV)∞ molecular wire and its related clusters. The aim is to study their electrical and magnetic properties.4-5 These BSMWs exhibit significant magnetic moment enhancement as

From left: Andy Ng, Valeri, Shuo-Wang, Michael, and Hongmei

By Shuo-Wang Yang, Andy Man-Fai Ng, Michael B. Sullivan, Valeri Ligatchev, Hongmei Jin, Lei [email protected]


Basis architecture of sandwich molecular wire (SMW) constructed with transition metal (TM)+ and cyclopentadienyl (Cp)-. The blue isosurfaces show the spin density.

compared with those monometallic SMWs such as the (MtCp)∞ molecular wire. We demonstrate that such magnetic moment enhancement is a result of unexpected electron transfer between the metal and the Cp ring as well as among the metals. Based on our theoretical calculations and previous experiments, we propose a growth mechanism for the Vn(FeCp2)(n+1) molecular wire, which agrees well with the experimental observation. Meanwhile, we find that some specific clusters show excellent electronic spin filter effect, and the (CpFeCpV)∞ molecular wire can undergo reversible electrical and magnetic properties changes via elaborately designed oxidation-reduction reactions.6-7 The molecular wire properties can be converted from semi-conducting to half-metallic after chlorine oxidation and can be reversed to semi-conducting by hydrogen reduction reaction to remove the chlorine atom.

We believe the aforementioned findings for these SMWs, especially the unusual electronic and magnetic properties and the mechanisms revealed, can provide useful and supportive information for its applications in molecular electronic and spintronics in the near future.

Related Publications(1) “One-dimensional Iron-Cyclopentadienyl

Sandwich Molecular Wire with Half Metallic, Negative Differential Resistance and High Spin Filter Efficiency Properties”, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 130 (2008) 4023.

(2) “Mechanism of Half-metallicity and Ferromagnetism for One-Dimensional Organometallic Sandwich Molecular Wires”, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 130 (2008) 13956.

(3) “Theoretical Studies on Structural, Magnetic and Spintronic Characteristics of Sandwiched EunCOTn+1 (n=1–4) Clusters”, ACS Nano 3 (2009) 2515.

(4) “Manipulating Spin Transport via Vanadium-Iron Cyclopentadienyl Multidecker Sandwich”, J. Phys. Chem. C 113 (2009) 7913.

(5) “Effect of Uniaxial Strain on the Electrical and Magnetic Property of 1D Bimetallic Sandwich Molecular Wire (FeCpVCp)∞”, J. Phys. Chem. C 113 (2009) 21422.

(6) “Electrical Property Switching in a Multi-Sandwich Molecular Wires via Oxidation-Reduction Reaction”, Submitted to J. Am. Chem. Soc.

(7) “Oxidization States of Metal Atoms in Linear Bimetallic Multi-Sandwich Molecules Vn(FeCp2)(n+1) and Magnetic Moment Enhancement Mechanism of Its 1D Wire”, Submitted to Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys. (Communication).


Outreach


Budding Scientists of ISYF 2010 Visit IHPC

Editorial Team

Jerry LimJoanne TanEmma Goh

For enquiries and comments, please write to:

The Editor Institute of High Performance Computing 1 Fusionopolis Way #16-16 Connexis (North Tower) Singapore 138632 Tel : (65) 6419 1111 Fax : (65) 6463 0200 Email : [email protected] www.ihpc.a-star.edu.sg

For research and business opportunities, please contact:

Industry Development Department Email : [email protected]

POWERING DISCOVERIES! is a quarterly publication of IHPC.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, or used in any form or by any means – graphic, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying , recording, taping or information retrieval system – without written permission of IHPC.

Copyright @ IHPC

30 student delegates from Singapore and other parts of Asia participated in the International Science Youth Forum 2010 (ISYF 2010), hosted by Hwa Chong Institution on 21 January. The ISYF brings together top Science students from top schools in Singapore and the region to encourage them to pursue science in a global environment.

IHPC hosted these students and introduced them to research work, with presentations by Dr Chng Choon Peng from Large-scale Complex Systems programme (LCS) and Tan Hong En, Research Officer with Computational Materials Science and Engineering programme (CMS).

Law Gim Han from Advanced Computing Programme (AC) speaks to students.

ISYF student delegates taking notes and paying close attention to the talks.

Choon Peng began by explaining how “dry lab” computer modelling complements “wet lab” experiments. He also explained how some research carried out by the Biophysics Team at LCS applies physical principles to further our theoretical understanding of how human cells respond mechanically to their environment. Hong En then took over and outlined how Newton’s laws gave birth to classical physics, before moving on to new theories such as quantum mechanics and Einstein’s theory of relativity. He also touched on his work in running simulations of electrons in nanowires.

The enthusiastic students later had a chance to experience Lightdraw and simulations with the Tiled Display before moving onto a tour at the A*CRC, where they were wowed by the supercomputers.

Dr Chng Choon Peng gets the ball rolling with his presentation on computer modelling.

ushering in petascale computing era - agency for … discoveries...help diversify the scope of...

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