In a meeting with Maged Messeh, an infrastructure specialist at ATLAS, we discussed the growing presence of GPUs in the world of academia. Graphics Processing Units were initially developed for higher resolution graphics but academics quickly discovered that the processing power could also be used to run immense calculations and complete other research work.
According to Messeh, GPUs are highly suited for running repetitive calculations. They can run millions of iterations in a very short time due to their higher processing power than a CPU. GPUs can also run highly advanced programs, such as ‘neural networks’ which are used to simulate brain activity. GPUs can clearly be a huge help to faculty members who are working on research that may deal with many simulations or calculations.
If an LAS faculty member is interested in using a GPU, they should email Maged Messeh directly at mmesseh@illinois.edu.