Manufacturers recently had a very high hurdle removed by the Department of Energy upon learning that they will be given access to supercomputers and the critical expertise needed to assist their businesses. Up until now manufacturers were faced with a two-fold challenge, the high cost of ownership and the maintenance of highly skilled workers for the advanced modeling and simulation techniques.
The program’s goal is to improve U.S. manufacturing via access to supercomputers that are able to optimize the design and manufacture of products, while also improving a company’s profitability. Through this innovative program they will use high performance computing (HPC) to solve both manufacturing and materials development challenges. It consists of two subprograms — one focused on manufacturing (HPC4Mfg) and the other on materials (HPC4Mtls). Companies interested in either program can apply for up to $300,000 in funding, generally twice per year.
Awardees have the option of suggesting a national laboratory as a partner or they may be matched with one by program officials. The two parties enter a collaborative agreement with a national laboratory, protecting the company’s rights to generated data and new intellectual property.
Company researchers may partner with scientists in Argonne’s research divisions and at the Argonne Leadership Computing Facility (ALCF), a DOE Office of Science User Facility. ALCF offers U.S. manufacturers computing resources that are up to 100 times more powerful than systems typically used by corporations. The program builds on a very successful history of researchers developing advanced technologies for U.S. manufacturers. Projects took advantage of Argonne’s expertise and its specific capabilities in advanced modeling and data analysis that advanced a company’s manufacturing or materials goals.
The HPC4EI program is the best fit for companies with projects involving substantial energy savings for the company or the end-user, or that support the development of new clean-energy technologies, are favored.
The HPC4EI program is sponsored by the DOE’s Advanced Manufacturing Office (AMO) within the Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) Office. Contact may be made at partners@anl.gov.
