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Bristol, 21st June 2016 – The Centre for Modelling & Simulation (CFMS), a specialist in high value design capability today announced that it has awarded the contract for the refresh of its high performance computing infrastructure to Cray Inc., a global leader in supercomputing.
CFMS has selected the Cray® CS400™ cluster supercomputer, utilising Intel® Xeon® processor E5-2600v v4 product family, formerly codenamed “Broadwell” with system storage provided by ArcaStream. The selection of Cray by CFMS marks the first-ever Cray system installed in the city of Bristol, since opening its Europe, Middle East and Africa headquarters in June 2015.
With simulations growing in complexity, the new solution includes NVIDIA Tesla® K80 GPU Accelerators, which will support demanding computational tasks. The new system is five times more powerful than the current system installed and will provide CFMS customers with faster response times and enhanced performance levels.
Established in 2007, CFMS, an independent and not-for-profit organisation was founded out of a consortium, led by Airbus, including BAE, Frazer-Nash Consultancy, MBDA, Rolls-Royce and Williams. With a vision to drive a practical revolution in engineering design capability, CFMS offers access to a collaborative facility and advanced simulation expertise, technologies and tools that enable companies to incorporate these in their design processes.
“With modelling and simulation at the core of product development, providing a technology platform that enables rapid innovation and supports the acceleration of engineering design capability is central to our vision,” says Sam Paice, Chief Operating Officer. “It was paramount to select a technology partner at the forefront of high performance computing, and with whom we can develop a collaborative partnership beyond the technology, and support our strategic vision”.
“Supercomputing plays a vital role in the manufacturing process, and we are honoured that the Centre for Modelling & Simulation selected a Cray CS400 system to provide the computational resources for its user community,” said Dominik Ulmer, Cray’s vice president of operations for the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region. “This contract has added significance for Cray as Bristol is the home of our EMEA headquarters, and we look forward to working with such a strong organization that we also share this great city with.”
Head of IT Systems and HPC, Nathan Harper who led the selection process commented, “We evaluated a range of technologies during the procurement process. The new system will provide significant speed and performance benefits for organisations that use computer aided design. Through Cray we have access to an interesting selection of technologies, providing us with flexibility and dependability.”
Access to the current and new system is open to companies large and small. To mark the launch of the new supercomputing facilities at CFMS, an opening ceremony will be held in Summer 2016, when system installation is due for completion.
About CFMS
The Centre for Modelling & Simulation (CFMS) is proud to be a growing, independent and not-for-profit organisation that specialises in high value design capability. With a vision to drive a practical revolution in engineering design capability, we promote advanced modelling and simulation, underpinned by HPC, pushing the boundaries of technology.
Through our exceptional, collaborative, virtual and physical facility, we enable the adoption and acceleration of new technologies for advanced modelling and simulation, while improving learning and awareness of state-of-the art.
Our collaborative links extend across industry, academia and the research supply chain. Engaging with organisations large and small, we enable companies of all sizes to experience the full benefit of modelling and simulation, helping to provide access to the right tools, resources, skills and technologies, resulting in increased productivity and faster, more informed decision-making.
For more information visit www.cfms.org.uk or contact us on 0117 906 1100 or email info@cfms.org.uk