Artificial intelligence is here to stay, and the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology will be instrumental in shaping the way it impacts all facets of our lives, from the cars we drive to how scientists develop medicine. To meet that demand, the Martin and Grace Druan Rosman Performance Computing Data Center will serve as a new high-performance computing (HPC) hub on campus to ensure that the University is prepared for the demands of research, development, and innovation for years to come.
As it prepares to open its doors to students and faculty across campus next year, I spoke with Professor Ofer Strichman, vice chairman for computing, to learn more about the vital impact this new center will have not only on the Technion community, but also the global innovation sphere.
Michael: While I know this new HPC center will unlock a new capacity and efficiency for innovation for the Technion’s computer science students and faculty, are there implications for this new space across other sectors of research on campus?
Ofer: Certainly! In fact, HPC has existed at the Technion for over thirty years in some form, and this new center will be vital for almost all departments at the Technion to expand the capacity and ease of research. I know that when many people envision the actual process of scientific research or a science lab, they imagine scientists in white coats working with beakers and microscopes. While this trope still exists in part, it is outdated to think that this is how the majority of scientific research is conducted.
Over the last couple of decades, computerized models have replaced the lab as the preferred method of research for many scientists. At the Technion, for example, the majority of new faculty across all departments are computational scientists, meaning they require HPC to do their work. Faculty studying medicine, cyber security and cryptography, astrophysics, renewable energy, and more rely on HPC to unlock breakthroughs in these fields.
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This article was written by American Technion Society CEO Michael Waxman-Lenz.
