By Oksana Lesnovskaya
The joint project by our three countries is expected to be implemented as part of a new interstate targeted programme for innovative co-operation between CIS states. With our networks connected, scientists from our three countries will be able to team up for various joint sci-tech projects. “Supercomputers will allow us to set up joint virtual groups and implement joint scientific projects,” explains Anatoly Krishtofik, a research officer with the United Institute of Informatics Problems at the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus.
Any member country will be able to use the supercomputing resources of its partners as necessary. This integration will open up new opportunities for industrial enterprises in our three countries, allowing components for machines and vehicles to be modelled, alongside pharmaceutical compounds, while processing and analysing geological survey data.
Demand for supercomputing services is rising among Belarusian companies, with mechanical engineering flagships in the lead. Grodno Cardan Shafts Plant uses a supercomputer to model cardan drives for BelAZ vehicles and conduct virtual tests. As a result, material consumption is cut, while manufacturing durability is increased. Moreover, expensive real tests are supplemented with virtual, saving money. Minsk Motor Works models hydrodynamic processes in engines, to calculate engine performance parameters and exhaust emissions. These companies now have access to supercomputer technologies, via telecommunication infrastructure and special GRID integrated workplaces for designers.
Belarus’ supercomputer GRID network comprises the United Institute of Informatics Problems at the National Academy of Sciences, the Joint Institute for Power and Nuclear Research — Sosny, the Belarusian State University and Grodno State University. Their resources are integrated into the European GRID structure, with Russia remaining Belarus’ key partner in the area.
“It’s particularly profitable for us to promote supercomputing co-operation within the Customs Union and the Single Economic Space,” Mr. Krishtofik stresses. “Partnerships with other supercomputer manufacturers would take more effort and would be less effective. We should keep in mind that the world’s leading supercomputer manufacturers have long ago divided the traditional sales markets and are now aggressively penetrating new outlets.”
