Research success

Fast is the watchword: An industrial design or genetic analysis, for example, which may normally require three to six months, can be completed in an hour using the supercomputer.

The system also supports smartcity applications, including traffic management.

So far, seven subcenters have been established in Guangzhou, Zhuhai, Zhongshan, Shenzhen, Huizhou and Foshan in Guangdong to facilitate innovation. And others are being considered for Dongguan and Zhaoqing.

Midea, a leading home-appliances maker in China, has been using the services of the National Supercomputer Center in Guangzhou since 2017. And with digital-simulation technology, calculation time can be reduced from two to three weeks to one or two days, says Chen Feifan, advanced research senior engineer of the group's small-domestic-appliance division.

"Midea has been speeding up its input in fundamental technology research," Chen says.

The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology's Fok Ying-tung Research Institute has been aided by the supercomputer center in doing oceanic-simulation research involving the South China Sea, as well as for research in biomacromolecule simulation, nanotechnology and mechanical engineering, says Gao Min, division manager at the institute.

A great deal of tech research would be impossible without supercomputers, he says.

Through a multiservice transfer platform, the supercomputing system is connected through its subcenter at Gao's institute in Guangzhou's Nansha district to Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, from which the system extends to some other universities in Hong Kong.

Universities also use the services of the National Supercomputer Center in Guangzhou. And many teachers are using it in a substantial way, Gao says. He hopes to extend the service to all eight universities in Hong Kong.

A supercomputer alliance covering Guangdong and the Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions was set up last year.