A new IBM supercomputer named "Champion" has made its home in the Texas Advanced Computer Center at the University. It was named after the recent victories of various Texas teams, including the Longhorn football team's Rose Bowl victory, the 2005 UT Baseball team's sixth national championship and the San Antonio Spurs' NBA championship last year, according to a University press release.
Champion, located at the J.J. Pickle Research campus, will be available for use in March.
The supercomputer will be a scientific research tool, used to process complex data sets. It will be used in researching petroleum exploration, automotive crash testing, genomic research and oceanographic, atmospheric and energy studies, according to the press release.
Champion's POWER5 system was designed to replace the IBM POWER4 system the University purchased in 2001, said Tommy Minyard, assistant director for advanced computing systems at the center. The purchase of this technology, which is valued at more than $1 million on the open market, stemmed from various professors' requests for an upgrade.
Not only can the supercomputer perform 730 billion calculations per second, but it takes up less space than the POWER4 system, Minyard said. The POWER4 spreads out over 300 square feet while the new POWER5 takes up only about 40 square feet. Overall, Champion is also 50 percent more efficient, Minyard said.
Champion is made of the same basic building blocks that the most powerful computer in the world, the Accelerated Strategic Computing Initiative Purple, utilizes, said IBM spokesman Lon Levitan. Champion is the most powerful POWER5 academic supercomputer in Texas, he said.
The supercomputer will be used to directly benefit University programs, such as the Center for Space Research, the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment and the Institute for Computational Engineering and Sciences, Minyard said. In addition, it will also be used for state and national research, including for scientists involved in chemical research.
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