Compaq and Australian APAC join forces in a high-performance computingCanberra 14 February 2001 Compaq Computer Australia and the Australian Partnership for Advanced Computing (APAC) have entered into an agreement under which Compaq will provide its industry leading supercomputing technology to the APAC National Facility for researchers in all areas of science and engineering including chemistry, physics, environmental science and biotechnology. The agreement has been signed between Compaq and The Australian National University which acts as host institution for APAC.
The three-year alliance will see Compaq supply an AlphaServer SC including more than
450 Alpha processors, with system and development software. Compaq will also work
with APAC and its partners to provide expertise and solutions for Australian research,
education and commercial organisations. Housed in the APAC National Facility at The Australian National University in Canberra,
the Compaq supercomputer will be available for use by researchers Australia-wide for
work in areas such as molecular modelling for new drugs and pattern discovery for fraud
detection. The powerful capacity provided by the system will pave the way for
innovative research and development across the country. The APAC National Facility will contribute to Australia's capability for innovation,
said Professor John O'Callaghan, executive director, APAC. We chose to partner with 2
Compaq on the basis of it being the company in Australia with the most cost-effective
solution to the computing capacity we need. Compaq's high performance systems will empower the Australian scientific community
to develop applications with significant benefits for society, Brandling said.
APAC will also be using the Compaq solution to support organisations working on
engineering, medical, pharmaceutical and chemical applications. The National Facility
will have enormous potential for Australian companies to solve large-scale problems in
modelling, simulation, logistics, scheduling, fraud detection and risk management, said
O'Callaghan. It will be a major factor in attracting international researchers here, he concluded.
The initial system will be operational in April 2001, and implementation will be complete
in October 2001.
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