XSEDE Launches New Industry Challenge

Program will help solve complex problems for industry.

The Extreme Science and Engineering Discovery Environment (XSEDE) has introduced a new program to encourage collaboration between science and industry through XSEDE's extensive HPC community. The XSEDE Industry Challenge provides space for simulation teams to work on industry problems that require an extremely high level of scientific knowledge and proficiency.
According to program director David Hudak, "The Industry Challenge solicits open science proposals that are fundamental to modeling and simulation problems in industry...By solving these problems, we hope industry will advance."
Winning proposals include resource grants for Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) and Proctor and Gamble. Proctor and Gamble (makers of Crest toothpaste, Head & Shoulders Shampoo, and other consumer products) will study techniques for predicting the flow properties of compounds that lower surface tension. The simulations necessary for modeling are too large for Proctor and Gamble's own computers, so they will use the Stampede HPC system at the Texas Advanced Computing Center and the Keeneland system at the National Institute for Computational Science. RPI will study technologies that  "...enhance the materials procession, flow control, fluid structure interaction, and design methods" for industry partners."
In addition to providing system space, XSEDE will "...contribute expertise to the research to optimize the speed and robustness of protocols for routine application."