High-performance computers = high-performance research

Talkin’ supercomputers Mark Furtney, Ph.D., vice president of research and development at the Holland Computing Center, will present “High-Performance Computing: Chess, the Life Sciences, Pringles and the Singularity,” on Monday at noon in the Eppley Science Hall Amphitheater.

Supercomputers — such as the University of Nebraska at Omaha’s Firefly — can help scientists and researchers make research breakthroughs. Supercomputing tends to be transformative in nature — allowing researchers to look at problems they could not even dream about before.

And, said Mark Furtney, Ph.D., vice president of research and development at the Holland Computing Center, those investigators who embrace such technology early often find their research becomes the leading-edge.

That’s the message Dr. Furtney will bring with him as he delivers the monthly Clinical and Translational Research (CTR) seminar on Monday, Aug. 18 at noon in the Eppley Science Hall Amphitheater.

“I plan to discuss, in general terms, the role high-performance computing has had in other areas of research and also its potential role in biomedical research,” he said.

Such computers are especially good at creating astonishingly real models — everything from nuclear bombs, weather predictions and car crashes to gaining an understanding of the feedback systems which control the workings of a cell.

These models allow scientists to “see the future” in a particular problem domain, and when you can see the future sooner than other researchers, you have a competitive advantage.

“The impact of high-performance computing in the life science is growing rapidly,” Dr. Furtney said.

This, of course, has huge implications for UNMC researchers, who thanks to an agreement with UNO, have access to FireFly.

“The impact of high-performance computing in the life science is growing rapidly.” Mark Furtney, Ph.D.

“I plan to describe how high-performance computers have helped shape other developments,” Dr. Furtney said. “I think it will become obvious that this technology has the ability to help with some of the research being done at UNMC.”

Dr. Furtney’s seminar, which is titled, “High-Performance Computing: Chess, the Life Sciences, Pringles and the Singularity,” is part of an ongoing series of CTR seminars that are typically held on the third Monday of each month.

The series is aimed at bringing clinical and basic science investigators from across the university together to identify new ways to collaborate and answer important clinical questions.

The seminar will be recorded and available for investigators who cannot attend. The seminar also will be televised at the following sites:

College of Dentistry in Lincoln, Room 7;

College of Nursing in Lincoln, Room 307;

College of Nursing in Scottsbluff, Panhandle Station Room 203;

College of Nursing in Kearney, CMCT 216; and

College of Nursing in Omaha, Room 4078.