SESAME and LinkSCEEM Project

By SESAME Scientific Group Dr. Hafeez Hoorani, Dr. Messaoud Harfouche, Salman Matalgah, Mostafa Zoubi

Synchrotron-light for Experimental Science

and

Application in the Middle East

About SESAME SESAME (Synchrotron-light for Experimental Science and Applications in the Middle East) was

first proposed in 1997 by Herman Winick of the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (Stanford University, USA) and Gustaf-Adolf Voss of the German Synchrotron (Deutsches Elktronen Synchrotron)

The SESAME Project is constructing the Middle East's first major international research centre as a cooperative venture by the scientists and governments of the region. It is being developed under the umbrella of UNESCO, which formally approved the recommendation that the Centre be set up under its auspices at a meeting of the UNESCO Executive Board on May 30 2002. SESAME is located in Assult-Allaan, Jordan (30 km from Amman and 30 km from the King Hussein/Allenby Bridge crossing of the Jordan River). Jordan was selected as the site in a competition among seven countries from the region. A building to house the facility is nearing completion on this site with funds provided by Jordan.

SESAME Machine:SESAME will have as its centerpiece a synchrotron radiation source with 0.8 GeV in storage ring and 2.5 GeV in SESAME

ring will cover a board spectral range from the infrared to the hard x-ray parts of the electromagnetic spectrum.

SESAME Beamlines: 1. Protein crystallography2. X-ray Absorption Fine Structure (XAFS) and X-ray Fluorescence (XRF)3. Infrared Spectro-microscopy4. Powder Diffraction/Material Science5. Small Angle-resolved X-Ray Scattering and Wide Angle-resolved X-ray Scattering

(SAXS/WAXS)6. Soft X-ray Photo-emission and Photo-absorption7. Extreme Ultra-Violet (EUV)

SESAME Machine and Beamlines

LinkSCEEM Project

LinkSCEEM is a project supports the development of High Performance Computing (HPC) in the Eastern Mediterranean region by interlinking and coordinating regional compute, data and visualization resources to form an e-Infrastructure.

The main project objective is to enable scientific research using HPC in the region by engaging and supporting research communities with an initial emphasis in the fields of climate research, digital cultural heritage and synchrotron radiation applications.

LinkSCEEM Partners• CyI-CaSToRC, The Cyprus Institute - Cyprus (Project Coordinator)

• NARSS, National Authority for Remote Sensing And Space Sciences - Egypt

• BA, Bibliotheca Alexandrina - Egypt

• FZJ/JSC, Jülich Supercomputing Centre - Germany

• NCSA, National Center for Supercomputing Applications/University of Illinois - United States

• SESAME, Synchrotron-light for Experimental Science and Applications in the Middle East - Jordan.

• ESRF, European Synchrotron Radiation Facility - France

• MPG, Max Planck Gesekkschaft zur Foerderung der Wissenschaften E.V. - Germany

• CYNET, Cyprus' National Research and Education Network - Cyprus

• JUNET, Jordanian Universities Network - Jordan

• IUCC, Inter-University Computation Center - Israel

SESAME Outreach Program • The program includes some activities aiming to create good awareness among

students about the problems which can be solved using High Performance Computing.

• The outreach program will be helpful for students at different levels (High graduate studies and bachelors) and different fields (physics, computer engineering, computer science, biology, …etc).

• This program includes Visits to all related universities in the region to present the project (lectures, posters and brochures at universities), Visits of students and teachers to SESAME and Open days and other activities.

What Is HPC?

• Definition: High-performance computing (HPC) is the use of parallel processing for running advanced application programs efficiently, reliably and quickly. The term applies especially to systems that function above a teraflop or 1012 floating-point operations per second. The term HPC is occasionally used as a synonym for supercomputing.

• HPC Goal: Reduce in the execution time and accommodate larger and more complicated problems.

HPC Users • The most common users of HPC systems are scientific researchers, engineers and academic

institutions.

• Some government agencies, particularly the military, also rely on HPC for complex applications.

• High-performance systems often use custom-made components in addition to so-called commodity components. As demand for processing power and speed grows, HPC will likely interest businesses of all sizes, particularly for transaction processing and data warehouses.

• An occasional techno-fiends might use an HPC system to satisfy an exceptional desire for advanced technology.

HPC Solutions• Synchrotron applications

– Decrease the latency for data processing to allow significantly faster data analysis and simulation through the usage of GPUs

• Climate Science– Global climate change is a contentious

topic these days, in large part due to the extreme complexity of the problem. As computational models improve, we may be better informed in our policy decisions, and able to act in a more unified manner.

HPC Solutions• Biochemistry

– Protein-folding attempts to determine the overall shape of a protein based on the sequence of amino acids; the effort may lead to better understanding of biological processes, and new medicines.

• Chemistry– Materials research helps to identify new

materials, such as high-temperature superconductors, affordable electrodes for fuel cells, efficient catalysts, new methods of energy storage, etc.

HPC Solutions• Environment Modeling

– The simulation of earthquakes can be startlingly complex. These simulations can be used to predict which areas are likely to experience a large earthquake, and what the conditions will be. This work helps inform building codes, development planning, and emergency action plans.

• Material Science– Characterization of the electronic, structural

and dynamic properties of small, extended and massive atomic/molecular systems.

– Applying the quantum/classical modeling and simulations in order to understand and to predict properties of micro-, nano- and macroscopic systems.

HPC Solutions• Industry– Products: Prototyping is often an expensive

and time-consuming process. Computer modeling can reduce the time and cost of physical prototyping and make optimization much easier.

– Services: Many corporations handle large amounts of data, and deal with complex routings or decisions. Insurers, for instance, use models to calculate risk, while the oil/gas industry uses seismographic data to determine where oil and gas fields are located underground. Wal-Mart optimizes supply chains, and Fed-Ex monitors and routes packages. The financial sector uses models to spot trends and calculate risks.

LinkSCEEM HPC Resources

LinkSCEEM-2 partners have three High Performance Computing(HPC) centers from the Eastern Mediterranean region:

– Computation based Science and Technology Research Center – Cyprus

– National Authority for Remote Sensing and Space Sciences (NARSS) – Egypt

– Bibliotheca Alexandrina - Egypt

LinkSCEEM HPC Resources

• Computation based Science and Technology Research Center (CaSToRC)– Cyprus

– CaSToRC (arch: x86_64 w. Tesla GPUs) system used for: • climate modeling• Astrophysics• high energy and plasma physics.• materials science• Chemistry• 3D visualization• Biology• financial and economic modeling.

LinkSCEEM HPC Resources

• National Authority for Remote Sensing and Space Sciences (NARSS) – Egypt

– NARSS (arch: BlueGene/L, PowerPC) system used for: • Geological applications and Mineral Resources• Agricultural Applications• Soil, and Marine sciences• Engineering Applications and Water Resources• Environmental Studies and Land use;• Data Reception Analysis and Receiving Station Affairs• Aerial Photography and Aviation;• Space Sciences and Strategic Studies• Scientific Training and Continuous Studies

LinkSCEEM HPC Resources

– Bibliotheca Alexandrina (BA)- Egypt

– BA (arch: x86_64) system used for: • 3D computer graphics• cultural heritage• analysis of the visualized data• Medical Visualization• Software developments.

LinkSCEEM HPC Opportunities

LinkSCEEM allows researchers from the Eastern Mediterranean to apply for time on high-end high-performance computers via a peer review process.

Preparatory access allows researchers to apply for code scalability testing and also support for code development and optimization from Cy-Tera and LinkSCEEM software experts. Preparatory access allows researchers to optimize their codes before responding to project calls.

LinkSCEEM HPC Opportunities Types of preparatory access

– Code scalability testing to obtain scalability data which can be used as supporting information when responding to future Cy-Tera and LinkSCEEM project calls.

– Code development and optimisation by the applicant using their own personnel resources (i.e. without Cy-Tera or LinkSCEEM support).

– Code development with support from experts from Cy-Tera and LinkSCEEM. Assessment of the applications received will be carried out at least every two months.

LinkSCEEM HPC Opportunities • How to Apply

– All proposals must be submitted via the LinkSCEEM website following instructions given at LinkSCEEM project's Access & Allocations page. All mandatory fields must be filled in before the application form can be submitted. After the form has been saved, applicants can continue to access it and update it before they finally submit it.

Thank you….

mostafa.zoubi@sesame.org.jowww.sesame.org.jowww.linksceem.eu