Vol. 51, No. 3        February 12, 1999

Computation

The Product Realization Environment (PRE) delivered "building blocks" -- components that provide access to electronic resources used by the weapon engineering community. These building blocks include Conversion Central, a Web-based service that provides image and document format converters; PeopleApp, an interface to human resources databases; and others. A secure version of PRE was released for use in the classified environment. (8900, 8200, 6500, 4900, 4600, 4400)

We set a new world record for scientific application calculations with the Sandia-developed MP-QUEST (Quantum Electronic Structure) code and its companion eigensolver, SCALAPACK. These codes achieved more than 600 gigaflops on the Accelerated Strategic Computing Initiative (ASCI) Red machine in modeling applications on aluminum oxide and silicon, both important materials for weapon electronic component studies. The simulations required force and geometry relaxations on more than 3,000 atoms. MP-QUEST remains a baseline code in our ASCI Materials program. (9200)

The Sandia meshing technology development team made a series of breakthroughs resulting in substantial reductions in mesh generation time for large-scale, Accelerated Strategic Computing Initiative-class, finite element simulations. Using Sandia's CUBIT meshing software, a 7 million-element 3D mesh of the tube for the W76 neutron generator was created three times faster than a mesh of similar complexity last year. Many tedious user tasks were automated. CUBIT is currently playing a critical role on several weapons projects, including the B61-11 certification and the B61-3/4/10 nose redesign effort. (9200)

A multi-organization team designed and built advanced information visualization facilities in New Mexico (Bldg. 836) and California (Bldg. 912). The Weapons Engineering Center in New Mexico and the Visualization Design Center in California are supported by the Accelerated Strategic Computing Initiative, ADAPT, and Stockpile Support programs. The centers provide project teams with high bandwidth access to a variety of information resources. The centers are open user facilities featuring automated video and audio source selection with high-resolution, multiscreen display. All capabilities are supported in both classified and unclassified domains. (1400, 2100, 2900, 8900, 9100, 9200)

The Sandia Enterprise Electronic Messaging Service (SEEMS) team received a Turquoise President's Quality Award for the selection, piloting, and initial deployment of a new corporate messaging service. Through interviews and focus groups, customers were involved in setting and prioritizing requirements. The SEEMS implementation involved close cooperation of centers in New Mexico and California. The system not only meets requirements but will cost 50 percent less than the old system to operate. (4900, 4400, 4600, 4800, 8900)

An asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) visualization network was constructed to support the Weapons Engineering Product Realization Enterprise. The visualization network ties together Sandia's large visualization machines located in buildings 836, 880, and 878. Also, a network connecting selected researchers in New Mexico and California was designed and deployed. Both the first-generation cluster called Hawaii and the second called Alaska were connected to the enterprise ATM infrastructure. The network, based on scalable distance-insensitive switched network technologies, demonstrates the fulfillment of the investment in infrastructure and switching technology made by the Integrated Information Systems for Sandia's engineering programs. (8900)

The "SCXX" conference series is a prime venue for showcasing Sandia's activities in high-performance computing and networking. Extensive participation includes: serving as committee member and SC97 conference chair; Sandians on the SCINet team, engineering the conference's full-featured, high-performance network; displays of hardware, software, and posters in the tri-lab Accelerated Strategic Computing Initiative exhibit; technical papers, posters, etc. Sandia benefits include high visibility, recruiting opportunities, and new customers or partnerships, one example of which resulted in access to millions of dollars worth of state-of-the-art equipment. (1700, 4400, 4600, 6500, 8900, 9100, 9200, 9500)

Sandia's World Wide Web site earned four major awards: A top rating among 17 DOE Labs from DOE's Laboratory Improvement Council; a Best of Industry Award in the government agency category from the Web Marketing Association; an APEX '98 Award for publication excellence from Communications Concepts; and a 50 Best of the Web Award from Popular Science magazine. (12600, 4800, 4900)

Last modified: February 12, 1999

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