Simulating the Inaccessible, Discovering the Unknown

Thomas Zacharia, Ph.D.

Associate Laboratory Director

Computing and Computational Sciences

Oak Ridge National Laboratory

http://computing.ornl.gov

The science of the 21st century demands computational capability well beyond what is available today. These demands cannot be met by simply fielding a computer that is #1 on the Top500 list. Rather, breakthrough science and engineering requires: an architecture well suited for scientific applications; a computational environment that ensures effective utilization of that architecture for scientific discovery; a best-in-class communications network and data management infrastructure; and teams of leading experts applying this capability to critical research challenges.

The National Leadership Computing Facility (NLCF) engages a world-class team from national laboratories, research institutions, computing centers, universities, and vendors to take a dramatic step forward to field a new capability for high-end science. Our team offers DOE an aggressive deployment plan, using technology designed to maximize the performance of scientific applications, and a means of engaging the scientific and engineering communities. Combining these resources and building on expertise and resources of the partnership, the NLCF will enable scientific computation at an unprecedented scale.

The NLCF is committed to providing high-performance resources at last 100 times more powerful than existing national capabilities to enable discovery of the unknown. This presentation will describe how the NLCF brings together world-class researchers; a proven, aggressive, and sustainable hardware path; an experienced operational team; a strategy for delivering true capability computing; and modern computing facilities connected to the national infrastructure through state-of-the-art networking to deliver breakthrough science.