Science & Technology
Science and Technology
Science and Technology
Thu, May 20, 2010 Cray Awarded $47 Million Contract to Build a Next Generation Supercomputer for Advanced Climate Modeling
SEATTLE, WA--(Marketwire - May 20, 2010) - Global supercomputer leader Cray Inc. (
The CMRS will provide a dedicated high performance computing resource for NOAA and its research partners, and will allow scientists to leverage a significant increase in computing capacity to address some of the most pressing global climate change questions. Once completed, the Cray supercomputer will be the world's most powerful high performance computing system dedicated to climate research.
The purchase is being funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. This investment in science and modeling capabilities will strengthen NOAA's ability to provide decision makers, whether individuals, businesses, or governments, with the climate information they need to make smarter more informed decisions for their families, businesses and communities.
"NOAA is recognized as a world leader in understanding and predicting the earth's environment through advanced modeling capabilities, climate research and real-time weather products," said Joe Klimavicz, CIO and director of high performance computing and communications at the Department of Commerce/NOAA. "High performance computing is absolutely necessary for weather forecasts and climate predictions, and we are excited to have the computational resources of a next-generation Cray supercomputer to further our research."
"The new Cray system will give the climate modeling community the ability to study climate change and its impact on our planet with a dramatic increase in computational capability," said James Hack, who heads climate research at ORNL and directs the National Center for Computational Sciences. "The deployment of this system will allow NOAA scientists and their collaborators to study systems of greater complexity and at higher resolution, and in the process will hopefully improve the fidelity of global climate modeling simulations."
Consisting of products and services, the contract is valued at $47 million. The multi-year, multi-phase agreement includes the delivery of a Cray XT6 supercomputer and a delivery of a next-generation Cray supercomputer code-named "Baker." Phase one of the contract, the delivery of the Cray XT6 system, is expected to go into production in the second half of 2010. Phase two of the contract, which includes the delivery of the additional "Baker" system and upgrading the Cray XT6 system to a "Baker" supercomputer, is expected to be complete in 2011. Additional upgrades are planned for 2012.
"The importance of climate research is undeniable, and this announcement reaffirms Cray's role in providing scientists with the leadership computing capability required to explore the impact of climate change and its effect on all of our lives," said Peter Ungaro, president and CEO of Cray. "NOAA and DOE are at the forefront of climate research and we are honored that they chose a Cray supercomputer to fulfill this important need for a high performance climate modeling system."
Some of the world's most highly recognized weather and climate research centers continue to select Cray for their supercomputing needs. Last month, Cray signed a contract with the Foundation for Space Technology, Applications and Science in Brazil to provide the National Institute for Space Research with a new Cray XT6 supercomputer for weather forecasts and climate studies. The National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado recently purchased a Cray XT5m midrange supercomputer, the Finnish Meteorological Institute is home to a Cray XT5m, and last year Cray won a contract to provide the Korea Meteorological Administration with a next-generation "Baker" supercomputer.
With a planned release early in the third quarter of 2010, the "Baker" supercomputer will feature a new interconnect chipset known as "Gemini" and enhanced system software that improves the performance, productivity and reliability of the system. Cray's planned "Baker" supercomputer builds on the Cray XT system architecture found in the world's fastest supercomputer and improves it in every key dimension.
This contract is one of the two large contracts previously disclosed by the Company as "in negotiations."
About the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
NOAA's mission is to understand and predict changes in the Earth's environment, from the depths of the ocean to the surface of the sun, and conserves and manages our coastal and marine resources.
About the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL)
Oak Ridge National Laboratory is managed by UT-Battelle for the Department of Energy. The Energy Department's largest science and energy laboratory, ORNL has a mission of providing solutions to America's greatest scientific challenges.
About Cray Inc.
As a global leader in supercomputing, Cray provides highly advanced supercomputers and world-class services and support to government, industry and academia. Cray technology is designed to enable scientists and engineers to achieve remarkable breakthroughs by accelerating performance, improving efficiency and extending the capabilities of their most demanding applications. Cray's Adaptive Supercomputing vision is focused on delivering innovative next-generation products that integrate diverse processing technologies into a unified architecture, allowing customers to surpass today's limitations and meeting the market's continued demand for realized performance. Go to [ www.cray.com ] for more information.
Safe Harbor Statement
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, including, but not limited to, statements related to Cray's ability to deliver the systems required by NOAA and ORNL when required and that meet NOAA's and ORNL's needs. These statements involve current expectations, forecasts of future events and other statements that are not historical facts. Inaccurate assumptions and known and unknown risks and uncertainties can affect the accuracy of forward-looking statements and cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated by these forward-looking statements. Factors that could affect actual future events or results include, but are not limited to, the risk that the systems required by NOAA and ORNL are not delivered in a timely fashion or do not perform as expected and such other risks as identified in the Company's quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2010, and from time to time in other reports filed by Cray with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. You should not rely unduly on these forward-looking statements, which apply only as of the date of this release. Cray undertakes no duty to publicly announce or report revisions to these statements as new information becomes available that may change the Company's expectations.
Cray is a registered trademark of Cray Inc. in the United States and other countries, and Cray XT6, Baker, Cray XT5m, Gemini and Cray XT are trademarks of Cray Inc. Other product and service names mentioned herein are the trademarks of their respective owners.
