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Globe & Mail: Canadian scientists raise alarm over inadequate computing resources

February 3, 2016 — 

As the Globe and Mail reports:

Scientists across Canada who need access to fast and powerful supercomputers to conduct their federally funded research say they are falling behind their international competitors, or having to switch to less ambitious projects because the country’s digital research infrastructure is insufficient to meet their needs….

In recent weeks, Compute Canada has faced ire and distress from researchers over its allocation of computer resources for 2016. Many applicants received far less than expected, while others have been cut off entirely….

Among those whose allocation was reduced to zero is Scott Ormiston, a professor of mechanical engineering at the University of Manitoba. As a consequence, one of Dr. Ormiston’s graduate students, who is developing software to reveal fluid and gas interactions in pipes – a topic that is relevant for averting nuclear accidents – may be unable to complete his PhD, already overdue because of diminished computer resources.

“I don’t know what to do. All my plans are in jeopardy,” said the student, Foad Hassaninejadfarahani, whose funding has now run out.

 

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