Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center Will Host Specialized Machine for Biomolecular Research

With stimulus funding from NIH, the National Resource for Biomedical Supercomputing at the Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center will soon be accepting proposals for biomedical researchers to use a novel special-purpose supercomputer for biomolecular simulation that is being made available without cost by D. E. Shaw Research.

PITTSBURGH, PA., May 5, 2010 - The National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), has awarded a two-year, $2.7 million grant to the National Resource for Biomedical Supercomputing (NRBSC) at the Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center (PSC) to host a specialized supercomputer for biomolecular simulation designed by D. E. Shaw Research (DESRES). The machine, called Anton, will be made available without cost by DESRES for non-commercial research use by universities and other not-for-profit institutions.

PSC Researcher Manages Image Data for First Pittsburgh GigaPan

PITTSBURGH, April 30, 2010 — Art Wetzel, PSC principal computer scientist, has collaborated with David Bear of Carnegie Mellon's Studio for Creative Inquiry (SCI) in creating the first Pittsburgh Gigapanorama. This interactive, 360-degree portrait of southwest Pennsylvania as seen from the roof of the U.S. Steel Tower was unveiled to the public on April 22 at the SCI. It is assembled from 4,000 individual frames comprising 31.3 gigabytes of data (10.5 gigapixels), making it one of the largest digital photographs ever created.

PSC on TV: Outreach Director Cheryl Begandy and PSC Partners Appear on "Our Region's Business"

PITTSBURGH, PA., March 14, 2010 - PSC Outreach Director Cheryl Begandy and PSC corporate partners appeared on "Our Region's Business" with Pittsburgh journalist Bill Flanagan. Mike Makowski of PPG and Jay McClatchey of AppCompTech, whose companies rely on PSC resources for product development, joined Begandy as she talked about PSC's Discover 10 Open House on March 23.

SAFE-Net Workshop Reaches Across Pennsylvania

SAFE-Net, a program of the Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center, funded by the National Science Foundation, has reached across Pennsylvania to raise awareness about safe practices in use of the Internet.

PITTSBURGH, PA., February 15, 2010 - SAFE-Net, a cyber-security awareness program of the Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center (PSC), recently connected a Carnegie Mellon University cyber-security expert with 75 educators at six school districts in eastern Pennsylvania via videoconferencing. Titled "The Educator's Role in Safe Computing," the three-hour interactive collaboration between PSC and the University of Pennsylvania's MAGPI Internet2 regional connector, highlighted how K-12 educators can raise awareness about cyber security and safety in the schools.

H1N1 Modeling Shows Short-Term School Closures May Worsen Flu Pandemics

PITTSBURGH, PA., January 19, 2010 - Closing schools for less than two weeks during a flu pandemic may increase infection rates and prolong an epidemic, according to results from computational modeling using TeraGrid resources at the Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center (PSC). The findings, reported in the Journal of Public Health Management and Practice, derive from a series of computer simulations based on several data sources, including U.S. census data, and indicate that schools may need to be closed for at least eight weeks in order to significantly decrease the spread of infection.

H1N1 Modeling at Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center Receives "Top Supercomputing Achievement" Award

The 2009 HPCwire Readers' Choice Awards recognize accomplishment within the global community of computational science

PORTLAND, OR., November 16, 2009 - The Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center (PSC) has received the 2009 HPCwire Reader's Choice Award for Top Supercomputing Achievement. The award recognized PSC's work as part of the National Institutes of Health's Models of Infectious Disease Agent Study (MIDAS) project, which supports research to simulate disease spread and evaluate intervention strategies.

Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center Introduces SAFE-Net

SAFE-Net, a program of the Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center, funded by the National Science Foundation, raises awareness about safe practices in use of the Internet

PITTSBURGH, PA., November 10, 2009 - Do internet passwords protect personal information from unwanted intrusion? How can you be sure if someone on-line is who they say they are? Does anti-virus software really protect your hard-drive?

PSC on TV: PSC Scientist Demonstrates Model of H1N1 Outbreak in Pittsburgh

PITTSBURGH, PA., October 8, 2009 - WTAE-TV journalist Michelle Wright interviewed PSC scientist Shawn Brown about his modeling of the spread of the H1N1 virus in Allegheny County, which includes Pittsburgh and surrounding communities in the metropolitian area, and Brown demonstrated the model on camera for viewers. The segment, part of WTAE's weeklong special coverage of H1N1, aired on WTAE's evening news.