Future challenges see industry finding its way to high performance computing

South Africa’s Centre for High Performance Computing (CHPC) now has over 500 users from across the science and engineering domains. Traditional users of the centre have been higher education institutions and research councils. However, ever-mounting pressures on industry to grow their business and to become more competitive, have led a number of companies to the CHPC.

The CSIR’s Research Impact Area (RIA) strategy for the advanced manufacturing industry seeks to achieve significant impact through the development and transfer of manufacturing technologies that improve the competitiveness of existing South African industry while also creating new manufacturing opportunities. CHPC industry partners such as Sasol, Hatch and others are using the facility to conduct computationally intensive research that seeks to advance their products and increase their competitive edge. They have access to the facilities without long-term commitment, which translates to cost-effective access.