Public seminar by prof Catherine Marion cress: developing high performance computing and “big data” science in Kenya

Abstract

I will discuss projects at the Centre for High Performance Computing in South Africa, focussing on Astronomy, but also mentioning applications in other fields such as Molecular Modelling, Meteorology and Bioinformatics. The Square Kilometer Array radio telescope is an internationally funded multi-billion dollar project involving a large component in South Africa and smaller components in eight other African countries, including Kenya. The SKA requires extreme computational capabilities and the CHPC is involved in tackling the data processing challenges, as well as working with partner countries to develop the expertise required to participate in the project. I will discuss our contributions to SKA engineering but will also present results from CHPC projects aimed at understanding some of the biggest questions in cosmology and galaxy evolution. We hope to grow our collaboration with Kenyan scientists in fields involving HPC or “Big Data” and welcome discussion on the topic.