Issue 122 February/March 2012 CONTENTS
Laboratory Informatics News and products
Testing times
Beth Sharp investigates the role of informatics within outsourced testing and analytical labs
Interview
John Trigg, director of phaseFour Informatics, takes a holistic view of what makes a smart laboratory
Events
With Pittcon, Analytica and SmartLab Exchange all fast approaching, we present some of the highlights
Statistical Science Product reviews and news Making mince pies and MVD
Felix Grant turns his attention to the application of statistics in manufacturing industry
High-Performance Computing News and products
From mobile phone to supercomputer?
What challenges await us on the road to Exascale? Dr Tom Wilkie investigates
HPC in 2012 Industry experts tackle the question of what 2012 holds for the HPC market
Modelling and Engineering News and products
Making decisions, not drawings
Paul Schreier goes beyond the buzzword and reports on building information modelling
Simulating the stars Gillian Law addresses the issue of growing data volumes within the field of astrophysics
Resources Suppliers’ directory
Inside view Genedata MD, Dr Kurt Zingler, discusses the ROI of bioinformatics soſtware
EDITORIAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE TEAM Editor Beth Sharp
editor.scw@
europascience.com
Specialist Reporters Felix Grant, Paul Schreier Circulation/readership enquiries Pete Vine
subscriptions@europascience.com
ADVERTISING TEAM Advertising Sales Darren Ebbs Tel: +44 (0)1223 211 180 Fax: +44 (0)1223 211 107
darren.ebbs@europascience.com
Recruitment Advertising Sarah Ellis-Miller +44 (0)1223 211 289
sarah.ellis.miller@
europascience.com
www.scientific-computing.com
Advertising Production David Houghton Tel: +44 (0)1223 211 196 Fax: +44 (0)1223 211 107
david.houghton@europascience.com
CORPORATE TEAM Chairman and Publisher Dr Tom Wilkie Publishing Director Warren Clark Web
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FEBRUARY/MARCH 2012 3
44 46
41
36 38
30
23 25
17 18
14 12
Welcome to the first issue of Scientific Computing World in 2012. Te start of a new year always provides an invaluable opportunity to take a step back and evaluate an operation – and we are no different. Ensuring our content remains as concise and accessible as possible, SCW is now separated into four distinct sections: Laboratory Informatics, Statistical Science, High-Performance Computing, andModelling and Engineering. Contained within are the same in-depth features, product profiles and reviews, and wealth of industry comment and opinion that you have come to expect. Tis issue contains a broad spectrum
of topics, from the current state of play of informatics within outsourced testing and analytical labs (p.6) to Paul Schreier’s report on the heart of collaborative efforts based on building information modelling (p.38). If there’s a subject you feel should be addressed in a future edition, please don’t hesitate to get in touch – I look forward to hearing from you.
Beth Sharp Editor
4 6
New year, new approach
Cover Alexander Raths/
Shutterstock.com
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