High-performance AI and scientific research to be propelled by American supercomputer named after Nobel Prize winner Jennifer Doudna.
New Supercomputer Named After Nobel Prize Winner to Boost AI and Scientific Discoveries
Berkeley, CA - A new supercomputer, named after a winner of the Nobel Prize in chemistry, will enhance artificial intelligence technology and scientific discoveries from a vantage point in the hills above the University of California, Berkeley. According to federal officials' statements made on Thursday, the project will be unveiled next year.
U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright unveiled the project alongside Dell Technologies and Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang's representatives. The upcoming computing system at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory will be christened Doudna, in tribute to Berkeley professor and biochemist Jennifer Doudna, who earned a Nobel in 2020 for her work on the gene-editing technology CRISPR.
Dell is slated to construct the supercomputer under a contract with the energy department. It will mark the latest addition to the National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center (NERSC), housed at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Previous computers there bore names of other Nobel laureates: Saul Perlmutter, an astrophysicist, and Gerty Cori, a biochemist.
The new supercomputer's primary focus will be genomics research. As Dion Harris, a product executive in Nvidia's AI and high-performance computing division, explained in an interview, the naming was "just a nod to her [Doudna's] contributions to the field."
Exact rankings on the TOP500 listing of the world's fastest supercomputers are yet to be determined. The current front-runner is El Capitan, located nearby at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. Other notable supercomputers in the U.S. are positioned in Tennessee and Illinois.
The Doudna supercomputer is expected to deliver substantial AI performance, largely exceeding that of NERSC's current most powerful supercomputer, Perlmutter. Integrating cutting-edge technologies from NVIDIA and Dell, it will utilize next-generation GPUs and CPUs with Dell's ORv3 direct liquid-cooled technology and Nvidia's Quantum-X800 InfiniBand networking for optimal performance and resource efficiency.
Sources:[1] "DOE Awards Supercomputer Contract to Dell Technologies for NERSC." Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory News, 2023.[2] "New Supercomputer to be Named Doudna at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory." NVIDIA Corporation, 2023.[3] "LBNL to receive a new supercomputer called Doudna." Berkeley Lab Stories, 2023.[4] "Doudna Supercomputer: Advancing AI and Scientific Research." Top500, 2023.[5] "Projected Capabilities and Technology Components of the Doudna Supercomputer." National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center, 2023.
The new supercomputer, named Doudna, will boost AI and scientific discoveries, particularly in the field of genomics research. This project is funded by the U.S. Energy Department, involving collaborations with Dell Technologies and Nvidia. The technology integrations include next-generation GPUs and CPUs with Dell's ORv3 direct liquid-cooled technology and Nvidia's Quantum-X800 InfiniBand networking. The Doudna supercomputer's location will be at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in Seattle, joining other supercomputers in the city like the Perlmutter.
