UH Alliance pursues Maui High Performance Computing Center contract

By Wendy Osher

MHPCC officials unveil the Mana, the largest Supercomputer on the South Maui campus. The Supercomputer was dedicated in August of 2009, doubling the center’s computing power. File photo by Wendy Osher.

The University of Hawaiʻi (UH) in conjunction with industry leaders in high technology, are pursuing the Maui High Performance Computing Center Contract, which is expected to begin October 1, 2011.

The newly forged academic industry alliance between UH, Lockheed Martin, Pacific Defense Solutions, Referentia Systems Incorporated, and the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, is aimed at supporting long-term sustainability.  The new alliance also supports the success of the Hi-Tech center in South Maui as a vital national asset and cornerstone of high technology in the state.

The Maui High Performance Computing Center has been under the management and operation of the University of Hawaii since 2001. Over the past 10 years, UH has led the transformation of the center into a major national Department of Defense Supercomputing Resource Center.

UH President M.R.C. Greenwood said the new alliance will help to take the Maui center to the next level of achievements.  “Our ‘Home Team’ is eminently capable and well-prepared to continue our outstanding record of performance into the future for the benefit of our nation and the state of Hawaiʻi,” said Greenwood.

About the participating companies:

• Lockheed Martin is recognized as the largest provider of IT services, systems integration, and training to the U.S. government.  The company currently manages four of the major DoD Supercomputing Resource Centers on the U.S. mainland.
• Pacific Defense Solutions (PDS) is a Maui-based and locally owned small business with nationally recognized subject matter experts in the fields of Space Situational Awareness (SSA), electro-optic systems, modeling and simulation.
• Referentia is a global small business headquartered in Honolulu that provides world-class innovative cyber security technology and solutions.
• The Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) is a U.S. Department of Energy multi-program science and technology laboratory that is currently the world’s largest supercomputing center.

***Supporting information, courtesy the University of Hawaii.