Intel Corporation Chairman Craig Barrett announced that his company is investing in a new academic research facility dedicated to high-performance computing (HPC) in France.
The HPC lab initiative marks the start of a 5-year collaboration and is Intel's first major investment in academic research in France. The four-party agreement signed today is a model of public-private partnership, linking Intel with government agencies and academia.
"Research is vital to a country's long-term economic health and competitiveness," said Barrett, who was in Paris today to help launch the HPC laboratory. "By investing in innovation, including research and development, we make a commitment to accelerate the benefits of technology in France and in other parts of Europe."
Joining Intel in the effort, the Commissariat Energie Atomique (CEA), a technological research organization funded by the French government, is contributing its expertise in HPC tera architecture and integration. France's national HPC agency, Grand Equipement National de Calcul Intensif, will provide its scientific end user applications and feedback. The University of Versailles St Quentin en Yvelines will make technical contributions, such as multi-core performance evaluation and code optimization.
"It is strategic for a public research institution like CEA to cooperate with a world-leading company such as Intel to prepare for the next generation of HPC facilities that the European scientific community and industrial companies expect," said Bernard Bigot, CEA general administrator and High Commissioner.
The joint research center will be built about 20 kilometers southwest of Paris in France Teratec, a region home to universities and other scientific research facilities. Intended to be used primarily by university students in France and other European Union countries to address future HPC challenges, the lab will seek to accelerate R&D and innovation in Europe in keeping with the Intel Labs Europe (ILE) initiative announced earlier this year.
The lab is being designed as an "exascale" high-performance computing center focused on hardware and software optimization. Exascale computing is a next-generation technology and refers to systems that can handle a million trillion calculations per second (1018).
The HPC lab in France marks Intel's first significant European R&D announcement since forming ILE in January. A key part of Intel's commitment to collaborative research, ILE serves as a platform for future potential investments and advanced innovation activity in Europe.
Before arriving in France, Barrett spent a day visiting Romania, and tomorrow he plans to travel to Serbia. Both visits are on behalf of the United Nations and the Intel World Ahead Program, which strives to improve education, health care, entrepreneurship and government services in developing countries worldwide by accelerating access to computers, connectivity and localized Internet content.
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