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Issue 142 June/July 2015 CONTENTS Laboratory Informatics Profile Delivering an end-to-end R&D solution


Sophia Ktori profiles IDBS and its interest in analytics as part of informatics A marketplace in the Cloud


Continuing her profiles of informatics companies, Sophia Ktori looks at the novel technology of Core Informatics


Delivering data for environmental protection


Colin Gray describes how the people and the environment in Scotland are better off thanks to informatics soſtware


High-Performance Computing Parallel programs need new maths


Tom Wilkie and Robert Roe reflect on the issues facing Europe's HPC community that were raised at the PRACEdays15 meeting in Dublin


How do you measure a supercomputer's speed?


What benchmarks should be applied as supercomputing approaches exascale, asks Adrian Giordani


Cool ways to save energy


Tom Wilkie admires the engineering ingenuity that goes into keeping computers cool


Software softens energy demands


Soſtware to save energy in HPC may also help mobile phone networks, asTom Wilkie discovers


Accelerating the development of HPC


Robert Roe looks at how accelerators and co-processors are driving the design of new HPC systems


HPC in Frankfurt


We preview some of the exhibitors, their products, and services that will be on display at ISC High Performance in Frankfurt in July


Applications Climate, clusters, and cooperation


Robert Roe finds that weather forecasters face the same issues the world over


Resources Suppliers' directory


The challenge of change for informatics software Gloria Metrick looks at how long-established vendors are keeping their soſtware up to date


EDITORIAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE TEAM Editor-in-chief Dr Tom Wilkie editor.scw@europascience.com


Specialist reporters Robert Roe, Sophia Ktori, Gloria Metrick, Adrian Giordani Circulation/readership enquiries Jesse Lund subscriptions@europascience.com


ADVERTISING TEAM Advertising sales Darren Ebbs Tel: +44 (0)1223 275 465 Fax: +44 (0)1223 213 385 darren.ebbs@europascience.com


Production Manager Alex Mappledoram Tel: +44 (0)1223 275 471 Fax: +44 (0)1223 213 385 alex.mappledoram@europascience.com


CORPORATE TEAM Chairman Dr Tom Wilkie Managing director Warren Clark Web www.scientific-computing.com


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Festival in Frankfurt


In July, slightly later in the year than usual, more than 2,600 scientists, engineers, vendors, component suppliers, soſtware developers, and users of high-performance computing (HPC) will assemble in Frankfurt for Europe's biggest supercomputing conference and exhibition. With a change of venue and (very slight) change of name, ISC High Performance will take place from 12 to 16 July. Some of the event's themes are prefigured


in this issue of Scientific Computing World, for example by our report on the PRACEdays15 conference in Dublin in May (page 16) which provided an insight into the concerns of Europe's HPC community. Cooling will be a hot topic and it is a


testimony to the ingenuity of engineers that so many different options are now available to cool current and future supercomputers, as Tom Wilkie discusses on page 26. But soſtware also has a role to play in energy efficiency, as reported on page 34. Te Top500 list of the world's fastest


computers will be released at the event, focusing attention once again on how best to measure the speed of a supercomputer (page 22), and on the growing role of accelerators and co-processors in the fastest systems, as Robert Roe reports on page 38 in the latest of his series of articles on novel processors and hardware. Of course, there is a lot more to scientific


computing than HPC. Colin Gray from the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency describes how its staff gained more confidence in their own data as a result of informatics soſtware. A programme to make their data available through a single Informatics Hub not only improved the Agency's efficiency, it also served a wider democratic purpose because members of the public can access the data, and conduct their own analyses, online. Computers for democracy, anyone?


Tom Wilkie Editor-in-chief


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 specifically 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:Scientific 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 Scientific Computing World PO Box 437, Emigsville, PA 17318-0437.


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