News & Publications

 Oct. 17, 2019

Shawn Brown has been selected as the next director of the Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center (PSC), a joint research center of Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Pittsburgh. Brown, whose work uses high performance computing, informatics and computational modeling to advance research in scientific fields, including neuroscience and public health, will join PSC on Nov. 27.

HuBMAP Consortium Charts out Goals for Navigable 3D Map in Article in Nature

Oct. 9, 2019

A national collaboration of scientists has taken the first steps to creating a 3D map of the human body, down to the level of single cells and smaller. In an article in the prestigious journal Nature, the Human Biomolecular Atlas Program (HuBMAP) Consortium charts out its goals for creating an interactive map that scientists can use to navigate through the human body to answer questions about its functions in health and disease. HuBMAP will continue over the next four years with an anticipated total of $54 million in grants, pending availability of resources, from the NIH Common Fund over the lifespan of the program.

The Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center (PSC), Carnegie Mellon University (CMU), and the University of Pittsburgh are playing leading roles in the consortium.

Fresh Five-Year Funding Ensures Continued Cybersecurity Support of NSF Research by PSC and Collaborators

Sept. 19, 2019

The National Science Foundation has awarded Trusted CI, the NSF Cybersecurity Center of Excellence, a $12.5 million renewal grant to extend the center through 2024. The Indiana University Center for Applied Cybersecurity Research is the lead organization for the NSF Cybersecurity Center of Excellence, in collaboration with the Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center, the National Center for Supercomputing Applications, the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Internet2 and the U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

Over the past seven years, Trusted CI pioneered and set the standard for the NSF Cybersecurity Center of Excellence through continuous innovation in cybersecurity, and cultivating the NSF community's trust in Trusted CI as a partner and a leader. Thus far, Trusted CI has helped over 250 projects improve their strength in cybersecurity. In addition to work toward a comprehensive cybersecurity framework, Trusted CI will initiate an innovative training program in 2020. Working with regional networks throughout the country, Trusted CI will train a wide range of people in cybersecurity skills to protect national research endeavors.

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July 16, 2019

Artificial intelligence (AI) research took a big step forward when a CMU AI program overcame the world’s best professional players in a series of six-player poker games. Developed at the Carnegie Mellon School of Computer Science, the Pluribus program runs on PSC’s Bridges system.

$10-Million System Will Expand National Capacity for Coupled HPC, AI and Data and Serve Nontraditional and Traditional High-Performance-Computing Communities

July 9, 2019

A $10-million grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) is funding a new supercomputer at the Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center (PSC), a joint research center of Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Pittsburgh. In partnership with Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE), PSC will deploy Bridges-2, a system designed to provide researchers in Pennsylvania and the nation with massive computational capacity and the flexibility to adapt to the rapidly evolving field of data- and computation-intensive research. Bridges-2 will be available at no cost for research and education, and at cost-recovery rates for other purposes.

Machine Learning Enables Scientists to Spot "Comma-Shaped Clouds"

July 2, 2019

Meteorologists can get time-critical help in spotting dangerous cloud formations using artificial intelligence (AI), according to scientists at Penn State and AccuWeather Inc. The team trained an AI with the “machine learning” method, running on PSC’s Bridges system, to recognize a typical cloud formation known as comma-shaped clouds in satellite images. Their results detected up to 99 percent of the comma-shaped clouds and 64 percent of ensuing storms in 2011 and 2012 satellite images over the U.S. Their hope is to develop an accurate early warning system so storm warnings can be issued more quickly than possible today.

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Read the Penn State release.

July 1, 2019

In May, 150 researchers, librarians, scientists, computer scientists and industry professionals from 10 countries and dozens of organizations convened at Carnegie Mellon University for the 2019 Artificial Intelligence and Data Reuse (AIDR) Conference. The event was organized by PSC and Carnegie Mellon’s University Libraries, and was supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM).

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April 2, 2019

West Virginia University (WVU), in partnership with the Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center (PSC), has announced the creation of one of the state’s most powerful computer clusters to help power research and innovation statewide. The Thorny Flat High-Performance Computer Cluster, named after the state’s second highest peak, joins WVU’s Spruce Knob cluster as resources. With 1,000 times more computing power than a desktop computer, the Thorny Flat cluster could benefit a variety research: forest hydrology; genetic studies; forensic chemistry of firearms; modeling of solar-to-chemical energy harvesting; and design and discovery of new materials.

Thorny Flat is the latest step in an ongoing regional partnership with PSC. The partnership has contributed greatly to the Morgantown-Pittsburgh corridor’s status as a hub for technological and scientific progress. The system will be housed in PSC’s machine room, and the center will provide routine maintenance and support for scientists using it.

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