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The National Center for Supercomputing Applications partners with faculty, staff, and students, and collaborators from around the globe to use advanced computing and data to create solutions to the most challenging problems.
NCSA is one (and the oldest!) of ten campus-level interdisciplinary research institutes
Reports directly to the Vice Chancellor for Research and Innovation
Created nearly 40 years ago as one of the first NSF Supercomputing Centers

NCSA Today — Overview

NCSA | National Center for Supercomputing Applications

In 1985, the National Science Foundation awarded the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign a $42 million grant to establish the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA). Since then, NCSA has played a pioneering role in advanced computing research, including the development of supercomputing technologies and applications, and has delivered huge benefits to society, from developing Mosaic, the first graphical web browser, to the use of supercomputing to accurately predict a volcanic eruption to the day in Ecuador.

Researchers across the University of Illinois System can now access – and impact – computing resources, user support and consultants in a new way. Through a combined five-year, $50 million commitment from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and U of I System, NCSA is offering considerable computing and consulting resources to system researchers. With feedback from researchers, we’ll apply funding where it’s most needed to best meet campus’ computing demands.

First time commitment to research computing and technical expertise in a sustained way
Also allowing NCSA to provide services in a way that wasn’t possible before

50% commitment to cutting-edge computing resources
50% commitment to research support (human capital)

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PEOPLE�About 250 FTE, almost 200 Faculty affiliates, over 100 students

FACILITIES�Office Building and state-of-the-art Data Center �(at opposite ends of campus)

BUDGET�About $70M/year in expenditures

Largest share from NSF, but funding from DOE, NIH, Industry, others
>75% from grants and projects

NCSA Today — The Numbers

NCSA | National Center for Supercomputing Applications

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Centers and Campus Project Collaborations

NCSA | National Center for Supercomputing Applications

Center for Digital Ag (CDA)�& AIFARMS

Delta and DeltaAI

NSF Materials Science NRT

(DIGI-MAT)

Office of Data Science Research

Center for Astrophysical Surveys (CAPS) & SKAi

Center for Artificial Intelligence Innovation (CAII)

Center for Exascale-Enabled Scramjet Design (CEESD)

Illinois Mayo Alliance

Illinois Computes

Healthcare Innovations Program Office

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NCSA Short History

Larry Smarr convinces NSF to invest in Supercomputing Centers to meet the needs of computational science. NCSA opens January 1986.
NCSA Mosaic Released January 1993
NCSA Creates Sony PlayStation2 Cluster May 2003
NCSA launches XSEDE January 2011
NPCF completed 2008
Blue Waters begins production January 2013
NCSA leads in ACCESS, successor to XSEDE April 2022
Delta begins production October 2022
DeltaAI accepted September 2024
See more at https://www.ncsa.illinois.edu/about/history/

NCSA | National Center for Supercomputing Applications

Extensive experience: NCSA has over three decades of experience in advanced computing research, having been established in 1986. This long history gives the center a deep understanding of the field, allowing it to effectively manage and lead the Illinois Computes program.

Proven track record: NCSA has a proven track record of delivering transformative research outcomes and managing large-scale, collaborative projects. Some of their notable achievements include the development of a secure, HIPAA-compliant system called Nightingale to aid universities in slowing the spread of the coronavirus, and helping scientists accurately predict a volcanic eruption in Ecuador.

State-of-the-art facilities: NCSA houses the National Petascale Computing Facility, which is equipped with advanced computing resources such as the Blue Waters and Delta supercomputers. This infrastructure enables NCSA to provide the cutting-edge resources required by the Illinois Computes program.

Multidisciplinary expertise: NCSA's team of experts come from diverse backgrounds, with interdisciplinary and technical knowledge in various domains. This expertise positions NCSA to support researchers across the U of I System in different fields, fostering collaboration and innovation.

Strong partnerships: NCSA has a history of successful partnerships with other research institutions, including the Electronic Visualization Laboratory at UIC and the Advanced Visualization Laboratory at UIUC. These collaborations demonstrate NCSA's ability to work effectively with other stakeholders to achieve common goals.

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HPC Computing History and Future

HPC hardware has passed through several eras:

Vector (1980-1990’s)
Microprocessor (mid 1980s-now)
Distributed memory parallel (late 1980’s-now)
GPUs (~2010-now)
Specialized processors (~2020-now)
Radical alternatives (neuromorphic, quantum, analog)
HPC+AI (+QC) (~2020-?)�

HPC Applications

Modeling and simulation from 2d to 3d to even higher fidelity; AI
AI provides alternative/augment to first principles simulation

NCSA | National Center for Supercomputing Applications

Source: 48 Years of Microprocessor Trend Data, K. Rupp.

Bill, would be great if you could give an example by sharing a scenario on this page�

Democratizing access: Illinois Computes removes barriers to entry by providing state-of-the-art computing resources, data storage, and support services to researchers across the entire U of I System. This democratization of access enables researchers from diverse domains to benefit from advanced computing capabilities.

Comprehensive support services: Illinois Computes dedicates half of its budget to support services. These services include user training, technical expertise, and end-to-end assistance, ensuring researchers at all experience levels can utilize advanced computing resources effectively and efficiently.

Interdisciplinary focus: NCSA's interdisciplinary expertise allows them to support researchers from various fields, promoting collaboration and fostering innovation across the U of I System. This focus helps researchers from non-traditional computing backgrounds benefit from advanced computing resources, enhancing the overall impact of their work.

Scalable resources: Illinois Computes is designed to be flexible and adaptable, ensuring that the program can meet the evolving needs of researchers over time. By regularly updating system configurations and adjusting resource allocation, NCSA ensures that researchers always have access to the most powerful computing systems.

Community-building: By providing access to cutting-edge computing resources and fostering collaboration among researchers from different disciplines, Illinois Computes helps create a supportive and inclusive research community within the U of I System.

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Why Now for a �Climate Computer?

NCSA | National Center for Supercomputing Applications

The need is great and only computing can answer key questions
With the end of Dennard (frequency) scaling, there is a renaissance in hardware innovation
We’ve known for decades that memory bandwidth is at least as important as FLOPS; we’re now getting faster (if less flexible) memory
Computer performance has also spurred a transformation in software

Everything from new productivity approaches to automation accelerated by AI

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Why Partner with NCSA?

Long experience supporting the computational science community
NSF leader in AI compute
Long history of developing software for applications
Computing systems designed for science applications

Blue Waters for sustained PetaFLOPS, not peak Linpack
Delta and DeltaAI for GPU apps and AI – embrace a subset of applications; note much higher memory bandwidth with GPUs, as long as your algorithm fits – but terabyte GPU nodes now available

We can host a large system – NPCF is a modern data center with 24MW power, liquid cooling, and expansion space to double the size

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