2017-18 Annual Report
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
© National Computational Infrastructure 2018 This work is copyright. Apart from any use permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, all rights are reserved. Requests for authorisation and enquiries concerning the contents of the report should be directed to [email protected] The report is also accessible from the NCI website at www.nci.org.au Produced by National Computational Infrastructure 143 Ward Road, ANU Acton ACT 2601 Designed & typeset by Result Design. Printed by CanPrint Communications Pty Ltd. Cover Image: A still from an NCI-produced video showing the weather patterns of the Madden-Julian Oscillation over the Maritime Continent. All of the graphics in this video are based on simulations run using the Weather Research and Forecasting model by Dr Claire Vincent and Associate Professor Todd Lane from the University of Melbourne and the ARC Centre of Excellence in Climate System Science. The video was produced by Drew Whitehouse from NCI’s VizLab. NATIONAL COMPUTATIONAL INFRASTRUCTURE CONTENTS Introduction 4 About NCI 4 Our Mission 5 Chair’s Report 7 Director’s Report 8 Highlights of our Year 8 1. Research Outcomes and Impact 11 National Benefits 13 Impactful Science 18 Growth in the NCI Partnership 21 2. Innovations Enabling New Science 25 System Enhancements 26 Data Services 30 Data Science 34 Computational Science 41 3. Leadership and Engagements 47 National and International Collaborations 48 Our Users 50 Our Partnerships 51 The NCI Collaboration 51 Our Vendors 53 4. Outreach 55 Educational Outreach 56 Corporate Outreach 56 Training 57 National and International Engagements 58 Operational and Strategic Planning Engagements 58 Presentations and Publications 59 5. Governance 61 The NCI Board 62 Organisation Structure 63 Financial Report 64 6. Appendix 67 Infrastructure 68 Data 68 HPC 68 Cloud 68 Usage 70 Scientific projects supported by NCI in 2017–2018 70 International downloads of data stored at NCI in 2017–2018 96 NCI Links to Government Portfolios 98 Outreach 100 Tours and Events 100 Presentations and Publications 102 ANNUAL REPORT 2017–2018 3 About NCI The National Computational Infrastructure (NCI) is Australia’s leading high- performance data, storage and computing organisation, providing expert services to benefit all domains of science, government and industry. We bring the Australian Government and the Australian research sector together through a broad collaboration involving the largest national science agencies, universities, and industry partners. As the home of the high-performance computing needs of so many research organisations across the country, our highly integrated scientific computing facility provides world-class services to thousands of researchers every year. It delivers groundbreaking scientific outcomes; new, enhanced and advanced technologies; and critical insights that inform and benefit public policy. Our combination of infrastructure and expertise enables high- impact research and innovation that is otherwise impossible to undertake. In synergy with and in support of the Australian government’s premier research funding bodies, NCI supports an internationally competitive research environment that attracts and retains leading researchers in Australia. Custodians of the nation’s most powerful supercomputer, its highest performance research cloud, some of its fastest filesystems, and its largest national research data repository, the NCI technical staff are renowned nationally and internationally for their expertise. Locally, in a reflection of their passion for their roles, they are known for their constant dedication to maintaining NCI’s services at all times. 4 NATIONAL COMPUTATIONAL INFRASTRUCTURE INTRODUCTION Our Mission Our mission is to deliver to the Australian research sector computational capability and enhanced services that enable transformational outcomes to be achieved for Australia’s industry, its environment, its higher education sector, its public policy formulation and Australian society more broadly. • NCI is research and outcomes driven, innovating and evolving our services portfolio to deliver on researchers’ requirements, institutional research needs, and national research priorities. • NCI delivers national benefits by enhancing the outcomes of research projects undertaken by government, science agencies, universities and industry across the country. • NCI’s research-driven agenda is underpinned by deep engagement with a broad range of research organisations, centres and communities across Australia and the world, which drives the relevance, agility and value of our services. • NCI’s infrastructure, expertise and experience deliver transformational outcomes that are world-leading. As Australian research becomes ever more reliant on computational methods, a reliable and innovative high-performance computing platform is required. That is why NCI is pushing the boundaries of what a high-performance computing and high-performance data facility can offer. The colocation and integration of peta-scale data storage with petaflop supercomputing is critical to making data science innovation possible for Australian research. ANNUAL REPORT 2017–2018 5 NCI is a highly integrated, advanced computing facility, dedicated to enabling research that benefits Australia and its national science priorities. By providing high-performance computing, data storage and data services under one roof, NCI brings an all-in-one resource for compute and data-intensive research to the Australian community. 6 NATIONAL COMPUTATIONAL INFRASTRUCTURE INTRODUCTION before the National Research Infrastructure Roadmap taskforce. Following Lindsay’s retirement, Chris worked tirelessly across Government to turn that recognition into the MYEFO announcement. As Chair of the NCI Board, it was a pleasure to work with such highly committed directors. The Australian research community owes them great appreciation for their service. NCI began the year with Raijin ranked 70th Chair’s Report globally, following the successful installation For NCI, this year cemented our position of a Lenovo cluster supported by the NCRIS as Australia’s premier integrated high- Agility Fund. The replacement machine will lift performance computing and data facility, and this ranking considerably, thereby maintaining set the scene for the future of cutting-edge NCI’s position as Australia’s most advanced Australian research. and integrated computational and data facility. However, fully realising NCI’s potential In January, we welcomed Professor Sean requires additional investment, either directly Smith as NCI’s new Director, succeeding or via our partners, in enhanced storage and Dr Chris Pigram, Interim Director from May data expertise: integrating compute with to December 2017. Sean, a computational advanced data management and services material scientist and NCI user, joined us is becoming essential. In this context, NCI from UNSW where he was Director of the welcomes the Government’s continuing Integrated Materials Design Centre. He also investment in research infrastructure brought extensive experience managing announced in the May 2018 Budget, infrastructure facilities from a period at Oak particularly the capital refresh for our sister Ridge National Laboratory in the US. facility, the Pawsey Supercomputing Centre in Normally, the appointment of a new director Western Australia. Both NCI and Pawsey are would be the high point for the year. critical to Australia’s future competitiveness in However, this year the high point had to be research and innovation. the Australian Government’s announcement Finally, I would like to thank my fellow Board of $70 million to replace NCI’s aging members for their commitment to NCI during supercomputer, Raijin. NCI is sincerely the past year. The Bureau of Meteorology’s Dr grateful to its partners, the Chief Scientist, Sue Barrell joined the Board, succeeding Dr Dr Alan Finkel, the Deputy Secretary of the Graham Hawke, who continues to be a strong Department of Education and Training, Mr and forceful advocate for NCI’s vision. NCI David Learmonth, and many others, for thanks him for his service. recognising and championing the importance of NCI in the lead up to the announcement. Emeritus Professor Michael Barber AO FAA FTSE, Chair, NCI Board I would like to particularly thank our previous directors, Professor Lindsay Botten and Dr Chris Pigram. Lindsay argued the importance of NCI and the criticality of a Raijin replacement over many months, particularly ANNUAL REPORT 2017–2018 7 of governance arrangements, and a review of how we operate and provide the services that Australian researchers rely on. More good news arrived in the May Federal Budget, with the government also committing $70 million to upgrade the Pawsey Supercomputing Centre. At the same time, it committed to underwriting sustained capital and operational funding for other parts of our inter-connected national research infrastructure sector. Several major parts of the sector are now engaging in planning to map out optimal Director’s Report strategies to advance Australia’s research infrastructure capabilities. These impact on It has been an honour and a challenge to areas as diverse as high-performance computing take up the Directorship of NCI in 2018. and data analytics, genomics and health, data The tremendous Australian Government science more broadly, materials, cellular and announcement in December 2017 of $70 tissue imaging, nanofabrication, geoscience, million for acquisition of a new supercomputer and climate and weather.