In silico lab (computing cluster)

Last changed: 01 September 2020

The In Silico Lab (ISL) is a departmental resource offering access to high performance computer systems and hands-on trial of novel hardware and software solutions.

Within the lab activities three main components are defined: Pedagogical, Experimental and Production.

Pedagogical – this is the least developed component. Knowledge is key within the ISL, and the aim is to receive and transmit knowledge. The short term aim (partially achieved) is to receive knowledge to apply in both the experimental and production components. Everyone in the current team has, in a manner or the other, expanded their knowledge in order to fulfil our roles. We are at a point where, given the opportunity, we want develop courses, tutorials and information sessions in a pedagogically competent way. We have the technological know-how, the ability to communicate our learning objectives and the motivation to do this in a well-organized and structured fashion.

Experimental – with different names and iterations, the ISL has been growing. This growth has been fueled by permanent exchange of ideas and challenges within those actively involved in the ISL. We are a strong, capable and motivated team. Our efforts resulted in a stable, high performing and inexpensive computing platform focused on responding to the demands within the department. In the future we expect to develop: 1) a secure and collaborative file storing system for all working at HGen, 2) host our own chat/voice/video service (facilitating internal communication and video conferencing with outside partners) and 3) accelerate complex calculation by using inexpensive
graphics processing units.

Production – we have many users that rely on, and benefit, from the computational and storage solutions offered by the ISL.

Contact

Hossein Jorjani

Fernando Lopes Pinto


Contact