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NASA High-Performance Computing Shines at Annual Supercomputing Conference

Photo of Cetin Kiris, NASA Ames, and high school students in the NASA booth at SC15 in Austin Texas.
Cetin Kiris, Computational Aerosciences Branch Chief in the NASA Advanced Supercomputing (NAS) Divison at Ames Research Center, gave local high-school students from Westwood High School a mini-lesson in how supercomputers and simulations are used to predict, analyze, and reduce noise in future aircraft, at the at the SC15 conference in Austin, Texas.

For the 28th year in a row, scientists and engineers who use the NAS facility’s high-performance computing (HPC) resources showcased their recent projects at SC15, the international supercomputing conference, which took place this year Nov. 16-20 in Austin, Texas.

Visitors to the NASA exhibit were captivated by spectacular images and videos from high-fidelity simulations supporting the agency’s missions in aeronautics, space exploration, climate research, and cutting-edge science—including designing new, fuel-efficient aircraft, supporting future human exploration of space, predicting asteroid strikes on Earth, and seeking the origins of stars and galaxies.

Nearly 40 projects representing work from six NASA locations and several universities across the U.S. were presented this year at demonstration stations and in the exhibit’s Hyperwall Theater, which enabled researchers to display visualizations of highly complex simulations in high definition. Among the presenters who benefited from using HPC resources at NAS:

Photo of Richard Klein, UC Berkley and Lawrence Livermore Labs in the NASA booth at SC15 in Austin Texas.
Astrophysicist Richard Klein, University of California, Berkeley and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, mesmerized the audience in the NASA Hyperwall Theater at SC15, where he showed a simulation of a giant molecular cloud evolving over 700,000 years. Klein's simulations were run the the Pleiades supercomputer at the NASA Advanced Supercomputing (NAS) facility at Ames Research Center.
  • Shishir Pandya, aerospace engineer in the NAS Division, presented the revolutionary D8 “double bubble” aircraft design, developed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, which may significantly reduce fuel consumption, airplane noise, and operational costs for airline companies.
  • Astrophysicist Richard Klein, University of California, Berkeley and Lawrence Livermore National Lab, took viewers on a trip through the 700,000-year evolution of a giant molecular cloud. His simulation was run on the Pleiades supercomputer at the NAS facility at NASA’s Ames Research Center
  • NAS aerospace engineer Stuart Rogers explained the complex details involved in creating a database containing more than 20,000 simulations that help the designers of NASA’s new Space Launch System better understand crucial aerodynamic forces that occur when the solid rocket boosters separate from the core two minutes after liftoff.

Other presentations from NAS users included: simulations for predicting damage from asteroid impacts to Earth; research investigations in aerodynamics for multi-rotor aircraft such as drones; and studies of the Sun’s corona and atmosphere that help researchers unlock the secrets of solar storms.

Photo of Richard Klein, UC Berkley and Lawrence Livermore Labs in the NASA booth at SC15 in Austin Texas.
Neal Chaderjian, research scientist in the NASA Advanced Supercomputing (NAS) Divison at Ames Research Center, points out details in high-resolution rotorcraft aerodynamic simulations to a few of the many visitors who streamed through the NASA booth at SC15 in Austin, Texas.

NAS experts also discussed advances in Ames’ HPC resources over the last year, and a team from the Numerical Aerodynamic Simulation program—the predecessor of NAS—was recognized with the SC15 Test of Time Award for a groundbreaking 1991 paper that introduced the NAS Parallel Benchmarks (NPBs). The NPBs are still used widely today in high-performance computing facilities across the industry and around the world.

Once again this year, teams from NAS designed the 30x40-foot booth, created amazing artwork and spectacular movies shown at the conference, developed NASA’s SC15 website and managed all the behind-the-scenes work to support our SC15 effort.

— Michelle Moyer, NASA/Ames