- Simon Fraser University secures over CA$80 million in funding for Cedar HPC system upgrade
- Upgrade aims to replace current Cedar supercomputer, matching or surpassing its performance
- Funding sources include Digital Research Alliance of Canada, Province of British Columbia, and in-kind contributions
- SFU’s Cedar supercomputer has facilitated groundbreaking research in areas like personalized medicine
- Investment in HPC facility at SFU to drive transformative innovations in healthcare, clean technologies, and artificial intelligence
Simon Fraser University Announces Cedar HPC System Upgrade
Simon Fraser University (SFU) has recently announced a significant upgrade to its high-performance computing (HPC) infrastructure at the Cedar National Host Site. The Cedar supercomputer, one of the most powerful academic supercomputers in Canada, is set to undergo a major transformation with an injection of over CA$80 million in funding. This upgrade aims to replace and enhance the existing Cedar system, ensuring continued cutting-edge computing capabilities for researchers and users across the country.
Investment Boost for Cedar HPC System
The funding for the Cedar HPC system upgrade includes contributions from various sources, with CA$40,946,000 from the Digital Research Alliance of Canada, CA$24,567,600 from the Province of British Columbia through the B.C. Knowledge Development Fund (BCKDF), and over CA$15 million in in-kind contributions from partners. Additionally, the Alliance is allocating an extra CA$248,000 to support three research positions. This substantial investment underscores the importance of advanced computing power in driving innovation and research across diverse sectors.
Empowering Canadian Research through Cedar Supercomputer
SFU’s Cedar supercomputer has played a pivotal role in enabling Canadian researchers to address a wide range of challenges, from personalized medicine to green technologies. With its advanced computing power and storage capacity, Cedar has fostered collaborations between academia, industry, and government, facilitating groundbreaking research initiatives. For instance, Professor Mirza Faisal Beg from SFU’s engineering science department has leveraged Cedar to spearhead research that has the potential to revolutionize cancer treatment using artificial intelligence (AI). His work highlights the transformative impact of HPC technologies on healthcare solutions.
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Impact and Future Prospects
The upgrade of the Cedar HPC system signifies SFU’s commitment to fostering research excellence and driving innovation in Canada and beyond. By providing researchers with state-of-the-art computing resources, SFU aims to accelerate discoveries in crucial areas such as healthcare, clean technologies, and artificial intelligence. The university’s strong focus on innovation and industrial application, coupled with its growing research capacity, positions SFU as a hub for cutting-edge research with tangible societal benefits.
The funding announcement for the Cedar HPC system upgrade marks a significant milestone in SFU’s ongoing commitment to advancing research and innovation through high-performance computing. The enhanced capabilities of the new system are poised to empower researchers, drive collaboration, and catalyze transformative discoveries across various domains, reinforcing SFU’s position as a leader in research excellence and technological advancement.
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