Summary
Advanced computing systems are able to deliver the highest capability at any given time, through the evolution of hardware, software and algorithms. Researchers in the physical sciences and engineering have been the major users of supercomputers, although with the increasing need to handle big data across all disciplines high performance computing is now filtering through many more sectors.
Given the rapid pace of technological change there is an increasing need for real-time decision-making tools and models that are taking computing to its next level of complexity. The next generation of supercomputers promise to reach an exascale level, although exascale computing systems still cannot be produced in an affordable and reliable mode.
Today we will explore how supercomputing has been an enabling tool across different disciplines and has maximised the use of big data in decision-making, design and product development, reducing prototyping time and costs. But most importantly, we will explore the impact that supercomputing might have in the future and what challenges the research community will face in the coming years.
- What if we could explore a much larger space of possibilities using HPC to “see” out of the box?
- What if we could create virtual prototypes and test their limits in silico?
- What if we could assess the interactions of our design choices with the broader world?
- What if HPC have helped to end the Ebola epidemic?
- What if HPC could predict the next financial crisis?
Speakers
Dr. Katharina Hauck
Katharina will show how supercomputing can provide the quantitative evidence that policy-makers need to make better decisions, through a better understanding of the interactions between the factors that determine population health and the number of health interventions available.
Dr. Gerard Gorman
Gerard will talk about the promise of big data and the need to generate software that can write software, which with the integration with machine learning can help designers and engineers create ideas that can be quickly translated into models. Gerard will give examples of how supercomputing has been used by the oil and gas industry in reservoir modelling.
Prof. Nick Jennings
Nick will talk about the challenges that an ever more connected world has on cyber-security. Nick will explore how supercomputing can help tackling vulnerabilities and how HPC, together with advances in machine learning will make it possible to model the unknown and be ready for future cyber-attacks.
Futorial’ Future – focused interactive group sessions, exploring what will appear and disappear in the following fields:
- Dr Andrei Kirilienko – Director of the Centre for Global Finance and Technology – Will lead an exploration of the impact of FinTech and how this will develop in the future
- Prof Ralf Toumi – Professor of Atmospheric Physics – Will lead an exploration of how advances in climate modelling will affect the insurance industry and wider impacts of changes in insurance
- Dr Arash Mostofi – Reader in Theory and Simulation of Materials – Will lead an exploration of how high performance computing and machine learning can aid materials discovery
Registration
Please register here if you would like to attend (external link)