what is the demand for high performance computing and grid ... · from the dedan kimathi university...

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What is the demand for high performance computing and grid computing facilities by Kenyan

research scientists?

Dr Moses M Thiga

Research Associate

Transforming education through ICT Transforming education through ICT Transforming education through ICT

High Performance Computing

High Performance Computing most generally refers to

the practice of aggregating computing power in a way

that delivers much higher performance than one could

get out of a typical desktop computer or workstation in

order to solve large problems in science, engineering,

or business.


What do we need HPC for?

HPC for fraud analysis

E commerce companies generate volumes of

transactional data from disparate systems and need to

detect fraud in real time.

The data involved is Big (volume, variety and velocity)

and the techniques in use (machine learning, deep

learning) are computationally intensive.

HPC provides the computational environment to

achieve this through provision of parallel processing,

memory and storage


What do we need HPC for?

Computational fluid dynamics

Aircraft manufacturers use CFD to optimize

aerodynamic design, which is an important driver of

fuel efficiency for airplanes. Results in more efficient

aircraft with less need for wind tunnel and flight testing.

Seismic modeling

Seismic modeling helps companies to know where to

drill in order to maximize output and minimize cost and

risk. In existing oilfields, seismic modeling can help the

company know which wells can yield more oil


Current Research Activities

Materials Science.

There is an active materials science research

community in the country, led by Prof George Amolo

from TUK, with membership from MMUST, UoEL,

Masai Mara, Maseno Univ, Kabarak and TUK.

The group comprising of faculty and graduate students

works on computationally intensive simulation of

materials currently using the HPC facility in South

Africa.



Astronomy and Big Data

Kenya is a partner country in the Square Kilometer

Array radio telescope project.

Faculty at TUK (Prof Baki), University of Nairobi (Dr

Okengo) and Kenyatta Universities (Dr Nadir) have

been involved in developing Astronomy and Big Data,

providing courses in Astrophysics and Data Science

(http://physics.uonbi.ac.ke/node/15349).



Bio Acoustics

This is an ongoing research activity by Dr Ciira Maina

from the Dedan Kimathi University of Science and

Technology (DeKUT).

The study involves the collection and analysis of

acoustic data from birds in the university forest. The

data generated is voluminous and requires significant

amounts of storage and processing.


HPC Needs Survey Oct – Nov 2016

91 respondents from 42

institutions in a survey for that

was part of the KENET proposal

to NRF for a HPC facility for the

community


Potential use in Education and Research

• Computational chemistry

• Computational biology

• Electro-magnetism

• Structural analysis

• Genetics and medicine

• Astrophysics and nuclear physics

• Geophysics

• Climate change and meteorology

• Mathematical modelling

• Statistics


Figure 1:Top 10 Disciplines Using CHPC Resources (Source: Presentation by Dr Happy Sithole at the International Workshop on

Environmental and Scientific Open Data for Sustainable Development Goals in Developing Countries)

Disciplines Using CHPC Resources in South Africa


CHPC Utilization by Kenyans

1. George Amolo, University of Eldortet, Materials Science

2. Henry Otunga, Maseno University, Materials Science

3. Kiprono Kiptiemoi, Moi University, Materials Science

4. George Manyali, MMUST, Materials Science

5. Frederick Mutunga, Pwani University, Chemistry

6. Philip Nyawere, Rongo University, Physics

7. Lucy Kiruri, Kenyatta University, Chemistry

8. Holliness Nose, Technical University of Kenya, Chemistry


Resources currently available

Terms and Conditions apply


KENET Digital Certificate

Facilitates access

to HPC resources

currently available


Growing the Demand

• Identification of Key HPC Utilization Areas –

Bioinformatics, Materials Sciences, computational

chemistry, data science, engineering

• Identification of PI’s in Key areas – To help in

identification of graduate students for capacity

building

• Capacity Building in key HPC research skills –

Linux, parallel programming and HPC System

administration.

• Partnerships in capacity building and HPC

resources – Intel, Microsoft, EGI, CHPC


A National Facility?

• Heavily dependent on demand and capacity for

utilization.

• Dependent on government funding for purchase

and maintenance.

Transforming education through ICT Transforming education through ICT

www.kenet.or.ke Jomo Kenyatta Memorial

Library, University of Nairobi P. O Box 30244-00100, Nairobi. 0732 150 500 / 0703 044 500

Thank You

what is the demand for high performance computing and grid ... · from the dedan kimathi university...

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