Research computing: A top-tier research university’s unsung zeros and ones

The old saying “a carpenter is only as good as his tools” is equally appropriate for the modern-day researcher: More than ever, truly pioneering research depends on world-class infrastructure, including high performance computing.

This year, CU Boulder provisioned its third-generation high performance computing infrastructure Alpine, which provides cutting-edge hardware that enhances traditional high performance computing workloads, enables artificial intelligence/machine learning workloads, and provides user-friendly access through tools such as Open OnDemand.

Comparable to systems in use at top peer institutions across the country, Alpine will keep CU Boulder researchers, industry partners and other users at the forefront of research and discovery in fields as diverse as aerospace, climate research and the biosciences.

As further endorsement of the outstanding computing resources available to campus researchers, the Research Computing group was recently chosen to lead a five-year, $10 million National Science Foundation-funded initiative to reimagine cyberinfrastructure user support services and delivery.