MidPlus: A Centre of Excellence for Computational Science, Engineering and Mathematics
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Warwick
Department Name: Centre for Scientific Computing
Abstract
We propose to establish a Centre of Excellence for Computational Science, Engineering and Mathematics (MidPlus) that serves the M1/M6 corridor from London to the Midlands, initially based on four leading universities with outstanding credentials for cross-institutional collaboration, industrial partnership, and computational research: Warwick, Birmingham, Nottingham and Queen Mary. We focus on this region because geographical proximity greatly facilitates outreach and ongoing interactions with industrial partners-especially for SMEs. MidPlus is well located to serve many organisations within the UK's automotive, aerospace, biomedical, materials and creative industries. We will extend this partnership to such companies, and other Universities, as MidPlus develops.
This Centre of Excellence will be established with an initial investment in e-Infrastructure of £3M (£1.6M from this EPSRC call and £1.4M from the partner Universities) that will provide:
* High performance Computing (HPC) through a capability cluster (Warwick; 2700 cores, infiniBand, some GPU and large-memory SMP nodes) to be combined with Warwick's existing cluster (commissioned 05/2011) to create a 6000 core cluster and so maximise scope for large massively parallel jobs; and a high throughput cluster (QMUL, 2900 cores) to facilitate projects that require multiple runs to span large parameter spaces.
* Data storage and archive facilities (mirrored at Birmingham and Nottingham for data integrity) to enable mid- and long-term storage of research data (initially ~1 PB capacity), and the management structures to enable metadata-based search and retrieval with secure implementation of a range of user-specified levels of privacy.
In the longer term we will: extend the capacity of the data store; develop an automated data-aging protocol to migrate data, successively, to appropriate longer-term storage technologies; extend the range of tier-2 HPC architecture we support; and develop greater integration of, and faster regional network connections between, the data and compute hardware.
Our collective research expertise and mastery of managing and using e-Infrastructure is as crucial to the success of MidPlus as is the equipment we will install. We will therefore build an intellectual superstructure on top of the e-Infrastructure that will:
* actively promote collaborations that cross disciplinary and institutional boundaries;
* provide a coordinated systems and administrative support team to enable industries with existing expertise to use these facilities-either to deal with the peaks in their internal demand for computer facilities or as an alternative to establishing their own;
* provide an expertise-base to nurture new industrial use of this e-Infrastructure;
* create a strategic framework within which to sustain and develop the regional e-Infrastructure.
This intellectual superstructure will enable MidPlus to offer services that add much more value than could be obtained from the bare e-Infrastructure or, indeed, from industrial cloud computing services.
This Centre of Excellence will be established with an initial investment in e-Infrastructure of £3M (£1.6M from this EPSRC call and £1.4M from the partner Universities) that will provide:
* High performance Computing (HPC) through a capability cluster (Warwick; 2700 cores, infiniBand, some GPU and large-memory SMP nodes) to be combined with Warwick's existing cluster (commissioned 05/2011) to create a 6000 core cluster and so maximise scope for large massively parallel jobs; and a high throughput cluster (QMUL, 2900 cores) to facilitate projects that require multiple runs to span large parameter spaces.
* Data storage and archive facilities (mirrored at Birmingham and Nottingham for data integrity) to enable mid- and long-term storage of research data (initially ~1 PB capacity), and the management structures to enable metadata-based search and retrieval with secure implementation of a range of user-specified levels of privacy.
In the longer term we will: extend the capacity of the data store; develop an automated data-aging protocol to migrate data, successively, to appropriate longer-term storage technologies; extend the range of tier-2 HPC architecture we support; and develop greater integration of, and faster regional network connections between, the data and compute hardware.
Our collective research expertise and mastery of managing and using e-Infrastructure is as crucial to the success of MidPlus as is the equipment we will install. We will therefore build an intellectual superstructure on top of the e-Infrastructure that will:
* actively promote collaborations that cross disciplinary and institutional boundaries;
* provide a coordinated systems and administrative support team to enable industries with existing expertise to use these facilities-either to deal with the peaks in their internal demand for computer facilities or as an alternative to establishing their own;
* provide an expertise-base to nurture new industrial use of this e-Infrastructure;
* create a strategic framework within which to sustain and develop the regional e-Infrastructure.
This intellectual superstructure will enable MidPlus to offer services that add much more value than could be obtained from the bare e-Infrastructure or, indeed, from industrial cloud computing services.
Planned Impact
The impact of the MidPlus project could be truly far-reaching, especially for small to medium sized enterprises within the our region. In MidPlus, we are proposing to establish a high-quality tier-2 e-infrastructure, with both high performance computing (HPC) and data facilities, that will serve all enterprises within the MidPlus region; this region is based around the M1/M6 corridor from London to the Midlands, and contains commercial strength in the UK's automotive, aerospace, biomedical, materials and creative industries. Most importantly, we plan to enhance the value of the facility-provision considerably by building a powerful consultancy and training framework around the strategic collaboration that is at the heart of MidPlus. This will enable commercial and industrial enterprises to recognise how they can benefit from state-of-the-art e-Infrastructure, and then develop the consultancies and internal skill-sets to reap maximum commercial advantage from using it.
To ensure we deliver full impact in the region, we will undertake a number of activities to ensure effective engagement with stakeholders in the region. These will include workshops, designed either to communicate our research expertise across disciplinary and cultural boundaries, or to brainstorm on current problems that are challenging some of the enterprises. We will also appoint business engagement officers to identify, and then nurture potential partnerships with SMEs and established industries. Activity in this area will be considerably enhanced by developing commercial partnerships with value-added companies such as OCF plc, where this is appropriate.
We will also work closely with a number of successful industry-linkage programmes our Universities are already involved in, notably the Warwick Manufacturing Group, the Horizon Digital Economy research hub and ImpactQM. These will be excellent vehicles for raising awareness of MidPlus as a precursor to identifying and evaluating benefits and then moving to engagement.
To ensure we deliver full impact in the region, we will undertake a number of activities to ensure effective engagement with stakeholders in the region. These will include workshops, designed either to communicate our research expertise across disciplinary and cultural boundaries, or to brainstorm on current problems that are challenging some of the enterprises. We will also appoint business engagement officers to identify, and then nurture potential partnerships with SMEs and established industries. Activity in this area will be considerably enhanced by developing commercial partnerships with value-added companies such as OCF plc, where this is appropriate.
We will also work closely with a number of successful industry-linkage programmes our Universities are already involved in, notably the Warwick Manufacturing Group, the Horizon Digital Economy research hub and ImpactQM. These will be excellent vehicles for raising awareness of MidPlus as a precursor to identifying and evaluating benefits and then moving to engagement.
Organisations
Publications
Aslan M
(2021)
Bimetallic AuM (M = Ni and Ag) clusters/nanoparticles and their extended (111) surfaces for NO2 adsorption: A computational material study
in Materials Today Communications
Baker D
(2017)
Both cladribine and alemtuzumab may effect MS via B-cell depletion
in Neurology Neuroimmunology & Neuroinflammation
Lin T
(2022)
Characterising Mechanical Properties of Flowing Microcapsules Using a Deep Convolutional Neural Network
in Advances in Applied Mathematics and Mechanics
Heard C
(2016)
Charge and Compositional Effects on the 2D-3D Transition in Octameric AgAu Clusters
in Zeitschrift für Physikalische Chemie
Shayeghi A
(2015)
Charge-induced dipole vs. relativistically enhanced covalent interactions in Ar-tagged Au-Ag tetramers and pentamers.
in The Journal of chemical physics
Sarma G
(2017)
Collision energy dependence of state-to-state differential cross sections for rotationally inelastic scattering of H2O by He.
in Physical chemistry chemical physics : PCCP
Marinakis S
(2015)
Collisional excitation of CH(X²?) by He: new ab initio potential energy surfaces and scattering calculations.
in Physical chemistry chemical physics : PCCP
Lique F
(2018)
Collisional excitation of interstellar PO(X 2 ?) by He: new ab initio potential energy surfaces and scattering calculations
in Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics
Tsiklauri D
(2016)
Collisionless, phase-mixed, dispersive, Gaussian Alfven pulse in transversely inhomogeneous plasma
in Physics of Plasmas
Shayeghi A
(2014)
Communication: Global minimum search of Ag10? with molecular beam optical spectroscopy.
in The Journal of chemical physics
Husseini F
(2016)
Computing infrared spectra of proteins using the exciton model
in Journal of Computational Chemistry
Song F
(2022)
Correction: Resolving nanoscopic structuring and interfacial THz dynamics in setting cements
in Materials Advances
Stolle E
(2019)
Degenerative Expansion of a Young Supergene
in Molecular Biology and Evolution
Di Tommaso D
(2014)
Density functional theory study of the oligomerization of carboxylic acids.
in The journal of physical chemistry. A
Kistler JO
(2015)
Development and pyrosequencing analysis of an in-vitro oral biofilm model.
in BMC microbiology
Guardiani C
(2019)
Different roles for aspartates and glutamates for cation permeation in bacterial sodium channels
in Biochimica et Biophysica Acta (BBA) - Biomembranes
Sarma G
(2015)
Differential and integral cross sections in OH(X) + Xe collisions.
in The Journal of chemical physics
Bassolas A
(2021)
Diffusion segregation and the disproportionate incidence of COVID-19 in African American communities.
in Journal of the Royal Society, Interface
Bruma A
(2013)
Direct atomic imaging and density functional theory study of the Au24Pd1 cluster catalyst.
in Nanoscale
Wang L
(2017)
Direct links between dynamical, thermodynamic, and structural properties of liquids: Modeling results.
in Physical review. E
Orsi M
(2014)
Direct Mixing of Atomistic Solutes and Coarse-Grained Water.
in Journal of chemical theory and computation
Savojardo A
(2017)
Dispersion map induced energy transfer between solitons in optical fibres
Description | This grant was to establish a regional high-end e-Infrastructure centre (MidPlus), serving the Universities of Birmingham, Warwick, Nottingham and QMUL, and looking to develop links with other Universities and industry in the London/Midlands region. We have established a range of facilities, including High Performance and High Throughput Clusters and a (mirrored) PB data store that has now been fully used and servicing this community for three years. |
Exploitation Route | This grant provided a service, and this service is being used by many researchers in Universities and industry to tackle their specific R&D problems. |
Sectors | Aerospace Defence and Marine Agriculture Food and Drink Chemicals Creative Economy Digital/Communication/Information Technologies (including Software) Education Energy Environment Healthcare Manufacturing including Industrial Biotechology Pharmaceuticals and Medical Biotechnology |
URL | http://www.midplus.ac.uk |
Description | This service has prompted concerted effort between the four member Universities to develop ways to interact cooperatively with Industry in the area of Scientific Computing and e-Infrastructure exploitation. This is an ongoing development. the establishment of the Centre has also led to the formation of a network with four other EPSRC-funded Regional Centres, associated with EPSRC grant EP/M02010X/1 |
First Year Of Impact | 2011 |
Sector | Aerospace, Defence and Marine,Agriculture, Food and Drink,Chemicals,Creative Economy,Digital/Communication/Information Technologies (including Software),Education,Energy,Environment,Healthcare,Pharmaceuticals and Medical Biotechnology |
Impact Types | Societal Economic |