Scientific computing in the Americas: the challenge of massive parallelism; Valparaiso, Chile; January 3-14, 2011

科学计算作为一种发现手段，有望解决科学中一些最持久的挑战。了解全球气候，解开湍流的奥秘，预测地震和海啸等自然灾害，通过模拟构成生命基石的蛋白质来解开生命的复杂性，所有这些，以及更多，都是今天科学家使用高性能计算（HPC）来解决的问题。 如今，由于新的计算机架构的出现，性能大幅提升，功耗更低，价格更低，因此HPC比以往任何时候都更有机会带来令人兴奋的发现。基于图形处理器（GPU）的新HPC硬件是一种技术，可以为世界许多地方的科学家提供参与尖端计算研究的公平竞争环境。 这项由美国国家科学基金会和能源部（DOE）共同支持的泛美高级研究机构（PASI）奖将于2011年1月3日至14日在智利瓦尔帕莱索的费德里科·圣玛丽亚技术大学（UTFSM）举行。 由波士顿大学的洛雷纳Barba博士组织的一个跨学科合作者和参与者小组将探索将GPU技术适应和应用于物理科学中复杂的突出问题的可行性。 与会者将包括地球科学家，计算机科学家，数学家和物理学家的互补组合。 讲座，教程和实践活动将集中在现代硬件计算，大规模并行计算应用程序的基本算法，以及开源库和编程的最新发展。 PASI的参与者将包括大约30名由该奖项支持的美国和拉丁美洲学生以及由智利机构支持的类似数量的当地参与者。 博士后学者的辅助指导会议将提供在现代学术环境中取得成功的建议。该PASI旨在启动使用现代硬件的高性能计算的发展极，并刺激国际合作和未来的举措，从而为参与者带来学生交流，联合项目和新的资助机会。 研究生和博士后研究人员将有一个独特的学习经验;他们将接受培训，使用最重要的软件工具的HPC，包括那些特定的GPU，和教学大纲将把重点放在科学的开源模型。选择的应用程序，例如，模拟海啸将吸引公众的注意力，并提供在报刊和其他媒体上传播的机会。 在线广泛传播学习材料将确保其影响超出研究所本身的期限。

Scientific computing as a means of discovery has the promise of solving some of the most enduring challenges in science. Understanding global climate, unraveling the mysteries of turbulence, predicting natural disasters such as earthquakes and tsunamis, untangling the complexities of life by simulating the proteins that make its building- blocks, all these, and more, are being tackled by scientists today using high-performance computing (HPC). And today, more than ever, an opportunity presents itself for exciting discoveries through HPC, thanks to the advent of new computer architectures that bring huge increases in performance, at lower power consumption and much reduced prices. The new HPC hardware based on graphics processors (GPUs) is a technology that can level the playing field for scientists in many parts of the world to participate in leading-edge computational research. This Pan-American Advanced Studies Institutes (PASI) award, jointly supported by the NSF and the Department of Energy (DOE), will take place January 3-14, 2011 at the Universidad Tecnica Federico Santa María (UTFSM) in Valparaíso, Chile. Organized by Dr. Lorena Barba of Boston University, an interdisciplinary group of collaborators and participants will explore the feasibility of adapting and applying GPU technologies to complex, outstanding problems in the physical sciences. Participants will include a complementary mix of geoscientists, computer scientists, mathematicians, and physicists. Lectures, tutorials and hands-on activities will be focused on modern hardware computing, fundamental algorithms for massively parallel computational applications, and recent developments in open source libraries and programming. PASI participants will include approximately 30 U.S. and Latin American students supported by this award and a similar number of local participants supported by Chilean agencies. An ancillary mentoring session for postdoctoral scholars will provide advice on succeeding in modern academic environments. This PASI aims to initiate a pole of development for high-performance computing using modern hardware, and to stimulate international collaboration and future initiatives leading to student exchanges, joint projects and new funding opportunities for the participants. Graduate students and postdoctoral researchers will have a unique learning experience; they will be trained in the use of the most important software tools for HPC, including those specific to GPUs, and the syllabus will put emphasis on the open-source model for science. The chosen applications, e.g., simulation of tsunamis, will attract the attention of the general public, offering opportunities for dissemination in the press and other media. Extensive dissemination of the learning materials online will ensure impact beyond the duration of the institute itself.