Feature Stories

2009 Features 2008 Features 2007 Features 2006 Features 2005 Features 2004 Features

2009 Features

• Bilingual Expertise
  TACC scientists work alongside domain experts to tackle major computational problems
• The Weight of the World
  QCD researchers use Ranger to explore the relationship between extreme scales of space
• Mapping the Wind
  Researchers adapt weather forecasting tools to predict wind potential in Texas
• Atlas of the Shifting Earth
  NASA research on engine noise relies on Ranger to enable first of their kind simulations
• In Support of Science
  TACC HPC consulting group helps users and communities maximize research
• A Star is Reborn
  NASA research on engine noise relies on Ranger to enable first of their kind simulations
• Cleaning Up the Cold War
  NASA research on engine noise relies on Ranger to enable first of their kind simulations
• Quieting the Jet's Roar
  NASA research on engine noise relies on Ranger to enable first of their kind simulations
• Managing the Data Deluge
  New TACC data collection system, Corral, enables large-scale preservation and analysis
• Inside the Swine Flu Virus
  Researchers use Ranger supercomputer to discover how mutations in viral protein lead to drug resistance
• A New Window on the Universe
  UT astrophysicist, Richard Matzner, uses Ranger to simulate binary black hole mergers and aid the search for gravitational waves
• Hearing Through Your Bones
  Air Force-funded research on Ranger explores how sound travels through the skull
• Improving the Mathematics Behind High-Performance Computing
  Q&A with Victor Eijkhout, TACC Research Scientist
• The State of the Southern Ocean
  Researchers use the Ranger supercomputer to model Antarctic ocean conditions and monitor climate change
• Explosive Science
  University of Utah researchers test new blast simulation tool on Ranger
• Unpacking Protein Function
  From protein evolution to prediction and design, Ranger helps Nick Grishin's team unravel life’s most important molecules
• The Fundamentals of High-Speed Flight
  Researchers at The University of Texas at Arlington use Ranger to explore and manage shock waves
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• Productive Waste
  TACC helps National Renewable Energy Laboratory researchers extract ethanol from biomass
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• Virtual Breath
  TACC HPC systems enable multidisciplinary researchers to develop realistic models of the human lung
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• Global Partnership Tackles Natural Disasters
  TACC-led consortium brings together academic computing centers from around the world
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• HPC Goes Global
  While the U.S. is the current leader in the installation and use of high-performance computing systems, the last decade has seen a sharp increase in HPC usage in the rest of the world.
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• Titanic Twisters
  University of Oklahoma researchers use TACC’s Ranger supercomputer to simulate unpredictable tornadoes
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• Digital Dividends
  McCombs School of Business researchers use TACC’s Lonestar system to model market behavior
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• Texas Supercomputing
  TACC, UT System partnership garners exciting scientific results
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• Anticipating "The Big One"
  TACC’s Ranger supercomputer helps the Southern California Earthquake Center simulate most realistic earthquake to date
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• Save Our Semiconductors
  Purdue researcher develops new nano-simulation tools on Ranger to design smaller transistors
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• TACC's Scientific Computing Curriculum Enables Young Researcher to Excel in Astronomy
  Learn more about educational programs for all ages developed by TACC
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• More Than A Magnifying Glass
  TACC, UTSW pair electron microscopes with Ranger and Spur to open door to biological insights
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2008 Features

• Genetic Predictions [PDF version]
  University of Utah researcher employs genetic algorithms on TACC’s Ranger supercomputer to speed drug discovery and uncover the causes of diseases
• Science at the Center of the Storm [PDF version]
  With Hurricane Ike, researchers use TACC's Ranger supercomputer to develop next-generation forecasts and safeguard coastal communities
• Investing in Open Source [PDF version]
  Unprecedented Ranger supercomputer helps TACC experts and outside developers bring open source software into the Petascale Era
• SC08 Arrives in Austin
  Leading Supercomputing Conference Marks 20th Anniversary
• Speeding Up Nano-Discovery [PDF version]
  UT Chemist Graeme Henkelman uses Ranger to test system of nanotech prediction
• Ring Around the Sun [PDF version]
  TACC's Ranger supports corona simulation in advance of solar eclipse
• New Visualization Laboratory debuts on UT Austin’s main campus
  TACC’s multi-user environment allows users to see science on an unprecedented scale
• Opportunities Beneath the Sea Floor [PDF version]
  Ranger supercomputer helps UT geophysicists explore new methods of subsurface seismography
• Strengthening Industry Connections
  Corporate partners meet to discuss progress of TACC’s industrial affiliates program
• Parsing Particles
  TACC-aided research using Lonestar supercomputer explores the nature of quark-gluon plasma
• Virtual Clustering
  TACC-developed MyCluster software allows researchers to aggregate resources across the TeraGrid and into the clouds
• Tackling Life's Problems in Silico
  TACC adds software, support and expertise to broaden life science research
• Texas' Climate Future [ PDF version]
  Jackson School of Geosciences researchers use Lonestar to improve land models and predict the regional effects of climate change
• Identifying Opportunities [ PDF version]
  Pacific Northwest National Laboratory scientists pull peak performance from Ranger for facial recognition
• Recipes for Replication [ PDF version]
  Novel supercomputing methods on Ranger help University of California-Irvine researchers understand DNA
• Extracting Insights [ PDF version]
  TACC visualization specialist, Chris Burns, creates a powerful volume-rendering tool for multi-disciplinary research
• Burning Questions [ PDF version]
  Dr. Venkat Raman rethinks the physics of fire
• TACC supercomputer performs laser cancer surgery on canine [ PDF version]
  Remarkable collaboration with UT's Institute for Computational Engineering and Sciences and M.D. Anderson Cancer Center enables Lonestar to carry out real-time, data-driven treatment
• The Big Give [ PDF version]
  NSF’s Resource Allocation Committee allots 170 million hours on TeraGrid for Q2 2008
• Supercomputing a Cure [ PDF version]
  Nathan Baker’s research group uses Lonestar to explore medicines and membranes
• Record Setting Simulations on Ranger Reconstruct the Re-Ionization Era [ PDF version]
  Recreation of cosmic motions captures billions of years of evolution with “extreme resolution”
• Data-Driven Office Dynamics [ PDF version]
  Emerging field of Information Visualization helps archivists make sense of organizational records
• Testing the Limits of the Standard Model [ PDF version]
  Quantum chromodynamicists from the MILC Collaboration group use Ranger to explore sub-atomic physics
• Milestones in Molecular Simulation [ PDF version]
  Novel technique extends times of molecular dynamics simulations to lifelike lengths
• STAR Rising [ PDF version]
  TACC Industrial Affiliates program helps companies test high-tech ideas
• Connecting the Virtual Human [ PDF version]
  Ranger helps Brown University scientists model 3-D blood flow through the arterial tree
• The Computational Microscope [ PDF version]
  Ranger's parallel computing power enables Klaus Schulten to model the largest biomolecular apparatus to date
• Turbulent Times [ PDF version]
  TACC's Ranger supercomputer helps P.K Yeung explore the physics of flow
• Powering Discoveries [ PDF version]
  Texas Advanced Computing Center’s latest supercomputer, Ranger, fuels a new era of scientific breakthroughs
• Nanoelectronics on a pencil tip [ PDF version]
  TACC-supported research explores novel graphene transistors
• New TACC User Portal and Accounting System Improve HPC Experience [ PDF version]
  Users will feel the difference
• Treating the Patient, Not the Illness [ PDF version]
  TACC collaborates with Peter Coveney of University College London on cutting-edge HIV simulations
• Matching Simulation to Reality in the Life of the Universe [ PDF version]
  TACC's systems stimulate cosmological discovery
• Remodeling the Mind [ PDF version]
  Cognitive Psychologist David Gilden uses Lonestar to explore vision, cognition and attention

2007 Features

• Designing the Nanofuture [ PDF version]
  TACC supercomputers help Alex Demkov devise tomorrow?s semiconductors
• Sailing the Uncharted Seas of Materials Discovery [ PDF version]
  Dr. Stefano Curtarolo teams with TACC to explore new materials
• Shedding Light on the Dark Ages of the Cosmos [ PDF version]
  TACC helps cosmologists model the first billion years of the universe
• TACC Showcases the future at SC’07 [ PDF version]
• From Data to Discovery [ PDF version]
  TACC-developed EnVision software simplifies remote visualization
• TACC Partners with IBM's World Community Grid to Speed Scientific Research [ PDF version]
  Between keystrokes and without blinking an eye, you can help solve the world's most important problems.
• The Flu and the Mystery of Proton Transport [ PDF version]
  TACC's Lonestar and other TeraGrid HPC resources enable new insight into proton movement and anti-flu drugs
• From Katrina Forward: Producing Better Storm Surge Forecasts [ PDF version]
  ADCIRC: The Next Generation Storm Surge Model
• Educating our Future Scientists [ PDF version]
  TACC teaches advanced computing knowledge and skills to students of all ages
• The Science of Small Takes a Big Computer [ PDF version]
  The Computational Physics of Nanostructures
• Ripples in Spacetime - Solved! [ PDF version]
  Lonestar supercomputer instrumental in solving binary black-hole simulations.

2006 Features

• An Attractive 'Spin' on a Dark Subject [ PDF version]
  Researchers at The University of Texas at Austin's Center for Relativity (CfR) are using computers from the Texas Advanced Computing Center (TACC) to provide a better understanding of the interactions between spinning black holes.
• First Warning [ PDF version]
  With advanced computing models and new technologies, university helps Gulf Coast predict and prepare for major hurricanes.
• Grid Computing on the Rise in Latin America [ PDF version]
• TACC and Sun Microsystems Develop New Remote Visualization Software [ PDF version]
  Researchers can now create compelling visualizations of massive datasets from the convenience of a local desktop or laptop
• The Human Code [ PDF version]
  Researcher's handcrafted work makes world's fastest computers run even faster

2005 Features

• GridPort 4 [ PDF version]
  TACC’s GridPort software empowers users in the rapid development of highly functional grid portals
• Here There Be Dragons [ PDF version]
  Scientists need sophisticated visualization tools to interpret simulations and observational data, and these depend upon the technologies of computer graphics.
• Dreams of the Final Library [ PDF version]
  Professor Robert van de Geijn of the Computer Sciences department at The University of Texas at Austin wants to revolutionize dense linear algebra with a new system that is "not your father's static library."
• Microscopic but Mighty: Mechanical Marvels [ PDF version]
  Dr. Dmitri Makarov of Chemistry/Biochemistry looks at load-bearing proteins and their cousins.
• TACC: A Powerhouse in the TeraGrid [PDF version]
  TACC makes major contributions to the nation's largest experiment in building a capable grid as part of the scientific infrastructure.
• State of GRACE [ PDF version]
  Professor Byron Tapley of the UT Center for Space Research and his colleagues are using TACC resources to refine satellite measurements of the Earth's gravity field. In the process, they're learning more about the Earth's water budget, climate, and other important processes.
• Grids and Collaboration at TACC [ PDF version]
  To update the UT research community on recent developments in collaborative grids
  locally and nationwide, TACC and the UT Physics Department cosponsored a seminar
  by the University of Florida's Paul Avery, Director of the Open Science Grid.
• CAREER Award Helps TACC Researcher to Study Nanostructures [ PDF version]
  Gyeong S. Hwang's multiscale computational methods help characterize the behavior of tiny structures of silicon/germanium.
• The TeraGrid Flood Modeling Science Gateway [ PDF version]
  Imagine that a major hurricane will make landfall within the next 24 hours over a heavily populated coastal city like Houston, Texas.
• The Unbearable Uncertainties of Climate Change [ PDF version]
  While computational models of global climate show remarkable qualitative agreement, they also differ widely in their sensitivity to projected increases in greenhouse gases.

2004 Features

• A Boost for Bioinformatics in the Context of Evolution [ PDF version]
  Biology is a data-rich science--and Professor Daniel Miranker at The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin) has a revolutionary new methodology for making the most of it.
• Secrets of Shear Thinning [PDF version]
  Research profile of a TACC scientist who studies a special fluid domain
• Meet Maverick [ PDF version]
  TACC's New Machine to Excel at Terascale Visualization
• Understanding Impacts: One Researcher's Story [ PDF version]
  Eric Fahrenthold's Hybrid Code Gives Insight on Loss of Columbia
• Robert Wyatt's New Approach to Fundamental Problems in Quantum Chemistry [ PDF version]
  Quantum Trajectory Method is Promising
• The World of Thomas Hughes [ PDF version]
  Computational Mechanics for Engineering Design
• What Hit Odessa? [ PDF version]
  UT Researcher Computes the Origin of the Odessa Crater