ISSUE 111 APRIL/MAY 2010

CONTENTS

Material world

NEWS

Software reduces animal testing; modelling software optimises watch design; students benefi t from industry support; Volvo enhances crash simulation capability

BANKING FOR THE FUTURE

Greg Blackman on the use of laboratory informatics software in the biobanking sector

HPC Products

MATERIAL WORLD

Felix Grant on the data analysis involved in materials science

MAPPING GIS

Paul Schreier looks at where Geographic Information Systems are used within the scientifi c community

NEW PRODUCTS DIARY DATES SUPPLIERS’ DIRECTORY INSIDE VIEW 37 41 41 42

Frank Brown, chief science offi cer, Accelrys

editor.scw@europascience.comgreg.blackman@europascience.comstephen.mounsey@europascience.comviv@europascience.com Production: Darren Price

ADVERTISING TEAM

darren.ebbs@europascience.comjennie.caley@europascience.com) Tel: +44 (0)1223 477411 Fax: +44 (0)1223 574817

CORPORATE TEAM Chairman and Publisher: Dr Tom Wilkie Chief Operating Offi cer: Mark Rosselli

Web: www.scientifi c-computing.com

SUBSCRIPTIONS: Free registration is available to qualifying individuals (Register online at http://www.scientifi c-computing.com). Subscriptions £100 a year for six issues to readers outside registration requirements. Single issue £20. Orders to ESL, SCW Circulation, The Spectrum Building, The Michael Young Centre, Purbeck Road, Cambridge CB2 8PD, UK. Tel: +44 (0)1223 211170. Fax: +44 (0)1223 211107. ©2010 Europa Science Ltd. Whilst every care has been taken in the compilation of this magazine, errors or omissions are not the responsibility of the publishers or of the editorial staff. Opinions expressed are not necessarily those of the publishers or editorial staff. All rights reserved. Unless specifi cally stated, goods or services mentioned are not formally endorsed by Europa Science Ltd, which does not guarantee or endorse or accept any liability for any goods and/or services featured in this publication. US copies: Scientifi c Computing World (ISSN 1356-7853/USPS No 018-753) is published bi-monthly for £100 per year by Europa Science Ltd, and distributed in the USA by DSW, 75 Aberdeen Rd, Emigsville PA 17318-0437. Periodicals postage paid at Emigsville PA. Postmaster: Send address corrections to Scientifi c Computing World PO Box 437, Emigsville, PA 17318-0437.

HPC Director 30

Lee Ward, principal member of technical staff, Sandia National Laboratories

32 12 8

12

4

Mapping GIS

HPC PROJECTS

A section for users and managers of HPC systems

HPC News 18

The latest news in high- performance computing

20

A brief update of the latest HPC software and hardware

Unbounded clusters 22

Paul Schreier on the growing complexities of cluster management

Visualising HPC

Stephen Mounsey on the visualisation tasks requiring HPC

26

32

LEADER

Building biobanks

As medical research advances, more

and more data is generated. Tissue samples, together with clinical data, can provide researchers with a huge amount of information. Different teams can take the same tissue and extract relevant data for their area of research. What is important, though, is that all of this data collection is coordinated and shared, so that all involved can access and evaluate that data in the context of a broader environment. Biobanking is a concept that has evolved and grown in a very short space of time, and is now a buzz word among laboratory informatics providers. Greg Blackman explores some examples of biobanking in action – and how informatics companies are helping tackle the data mountain – on page 8.

Elsewhere in this issue, Stephen

Mounsey looks at visualisation (on page 26). This is another major leap forward in scientifi c research that has been made signifi cantly more accessible with the advent of high-performance computing. Researchers can now input theoretical data and ‘see’ the results. Visualisations that once took weeks to generate can now be processed in a matter of hours, or even minutes. From construction to archaeology, from medicine to geology, researchers from all corners of science are making great strides thanks to visualisation. Finally, don’t forget to sign up to

our email newsletters. We send out an average of two every month, one of which has an emphasis on HPC news and applications. They are free to receive, and contain much more news and information than we can fi t in the magazine. Sign up for free at www. scientifi c-computing.com/subscribe.

Warren Clark

Cover: Montage by Dan Taylor

Not your copy? Subscribe online for FREE at www.scientifi c-computing.com/subscribe

www.scientifi c-computing.com

SCIENTIFIC COMPUTING WORLD APRIL/MAY 2010

3

CONTENTS Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44