July 2020
As NSF's leadership-class computing system, Frontera will support academic computational research at the largest scale nationwide.
Frontera Sets Sights on Transformative Research
TACC and the National Science Foundation announced approved allocations of supercomputing time on Frontera to 49 science projects for 2020-2021 totaling 54 million node hours. Projects range from high-resolution global climate models to simulations of tornadoes over the lifetime of a storm.
The coronavirus uses a sugary coating of molecules called glycans (deep blue) to camouflage itself as harmless from the defending antibodies. [Credit: Lorenzo Casalino (UCSD) et al.]
SUGAR COATING LOCKS AND LOADS CORONAVIRUS FOR INFECTION
The Amaro Lab at UC San Diego used Frontera to understand the workings of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Modeling a 1.7 million atom system representing the spike protein, they discovered that glycans — sugars that cover and shield the protein — trigger changes in the spike protein structure that allow it to infect cells.
Read the story and listen to a podcast with the lead researcher
Making the twice-annual Top500 list for the third time, Frontera remains in the top 10 for performance in the world.
Frontera named world’s 8th fastest supercomputer
The Amaro Lab at UC San Diego used Frontera to understand the workings of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Modeling a 1.7 million atom system representing the spike protein, they discovered that glycans — sugars that cover and shield the protein — trigger changes in the spike protein structure that allow it to infect cells.
The COVID-19 HPC Consortium lets scientists worldwide conduct supercomputer-powered COVID-19 research. Frontera is the most requested resource in the consortium.
Texas Supercomputers Join COVID-19 Fight
In March, the White House enlisted the world's most powerful supercomputers — including Frontera — in the battle against coronavirus through the COVID-19 High-Performance Computing Consortium.
[Clockwise from top left:] Gabriele Bozzola, Jeane Camelo, Dubem Okafor, Maureen Kitheka, Danat Issa
FRONTERA COMPUTATIONAL SCIENCE FELLOWSHIPS
Meet the first cohort of Frontera Fellows, five graduate students from across the U.S. who will compute on Frontera and collaborate with TACC staff. From simulations of black holes to hurricane storm surge models, these up-and-coming scientists will have a year-long opportunity to conduct research at a scale rarely accessible to students.
An image of the nuclear pore complex, created by the Aksimentiev group from their Texascale Days run. [Credit: Aksimentiev, UIUC]
Pushing Frontera to its Limits
TACC hosted its second “Texascale Days” event from March 10 – 16. Seven teams used large parts of Frontera to study evolving stars, cellular gatekeepers, and hypersonic flight, at a scale previously impossible.
Frontera will support two Large-Scale Community Partnerships projects to analyze particle accelerator experiments at the Large Hadron Collider.
NEW PATHWAYS AND LARGE-SCALE COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIPS AWARDS EXPAND FRONTERA'S RESEARCH IMPACT
26 science and engineering projects were awarded compute time on Frontera through the Pathways and Large-Scale Community Partnerships programs. Projects range from analyses of particle accelerator experiments at the Large Hadron Collider to efforts to model landslides.
A particle collision event in the COMPASS apparatus displaying the trajectories of charged and neutral particles reconstructed from hits in the detectors.
CRACKING OPEN THE PROTON
Researchers from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign are using Frontera to study subatomic particles called quarks and gluons inside the proton of an atom. The work is helping to guide the development of new instrumentation for the future COMPASS++/AMBER experiment at CERN and to prepare COMPASS data for final analysis.
See how Frontera helps lay the groundwork for future research
Frontera User Portal Now Available
In March, TACC announced the release of the Frontera User Portal, designed to enhance the overall user experience.
The portal enables researchers to access:
- Data Files – contents of your Frontera home directory
- Applications – Jupyter and the TACC Visualization Portal
- Allocations – active and expired projects and allocations
TACC will continue to add features and welcomes your feedback. Feel free to contact us by submitting a ticket.
Upcoming Frontera Training
Computational Research Techniques: Applied Parallel Programming
Thursdays in July | 2nd, 9th, 16th, 23rd
Computational Research Techniques: Scientific Visualization
Tuesdays in July | (June) 30th, 7th, 14th, 21st
Computational Research Techniques: Reproducible Science
Wednesdays in July | 1st, 8th, 15th, 22nd
An Introduction to Advanced Features in MPI
July 27th
Programming Modern Multicore Processors
July 31st
Modern Tools for Supercomputers
July 31st
Machine Learning
August 10th – 14th
Upcoming Frontera Opportunities
Pathways/ Large-Scale Community Partnerships (LSCP) Quarterly Allocation Submission
July 15, 2020 – August 15, 2020
Leadership Resource Allocation (LRAC) Annual Allocation Submission
December 14, 2020 – January 15, 2021
FEATURED PUBLICATION
Influenza hemagglutinin drives viral entry via two sequential intramembrane mechanisms | Anna Pabis, Uppsala University, Sweden; Robert J. Rawle, University of Virginia; Peter M. Kasson, University of Virginia
Researchers used molecular dynamics simulations on Frontera to approximate influenza virus fusion to obtain a model of how influenza proteins promote fusion within interacting membranes. This model helps explain previous mutational data and new experiments.
FEATURED VISUALIZATION
3-D Stellar Hydrodynamics of Convective Boundary Mixing and Shell Mergers in Massive Stars | Paul Woodward, University of Minnesota
Rising plumes of gas heated near the center of the star punch through the initial distribution of mixed gases, causing it to become distributed near the top of the convection zone in a non-spherically symmetric way. Progressively larger modes of convective motions develop, establishing a dominant, chaotically directed dipole circulation.
TACC Wants to Hear From You!
Tell us about your research publications and milestones, opportunities in your group or community, and other news so we can highlight your work in reports, publications, and on social media.
Send your story ideas: communications@tacc.utexas.edu