The CSIR has become a full participant in the international experiment ALICE (A Large Ion Collider Experiment) through the National Integrated Cyberinfrastructure System (NICIS). NICIS brings expertise and resources in high-performance computing, large-scale data storage and highspeed bandwidth to the project. ALICE is designed to study the physics of strongly interacting matter at extreme energy densities.
NICIS was granted associate membership in ALICE, a project at the European Council for Nuclear Research (CERN) for three years. CERN is renowned for its cutting-edge particle physics research, which requires processing, analysing and storing vast amounts of data generated by experiments like ALICE.
To support this, CERN relies on purpose-built high-performance computing infrastructure, large-scale storage and high-speed connectivity services provided by a global network of high-performance cluster node facilities. The NICIS will enhance ALICE’s computational capabilities and enable faster data processing and analysis by providing the only Tier two high-performance computing node in Africa.
Additionally, further collaboration opportunities will be explored. The associate membership status will be reviewed in three years, with the potential to expand collaboration to include ground-breaking scientific research in high-energy physics.
Continue to prioritise science, engineering and technology. This was the message when the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Higher Education, Science and Innovation of the sixth Parliament Administration presented its sixth Parliament Legacy Report on Science and Innovation. With elections scheduled for May 2024, South Africa’s seventh Parliamentary Administration is set to assume office in mid-2024.
The meeting took place on Wednesday, 23 March 2024 at iThemba Labs in Cape Town, with stakeholders from the science, higher education, technology and innovation sectors in attendance. Among the attendees were Dr Thulani Dlamini, Chief Executive Officer of the CSIR, and Vuyani Jarana, CSIR Board Chairperson.
In his address, Deputy Minister of Higher Education, Science and Innovation, Buti Manamela, stated the importance of research and development and the pivotal role of science for the incoming seventh administration, as highlighted in the Science and Innovation Legacy Report. He expressed appreciation for the Chairperson of the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Higher Education, Science and Innovation, Nompendulo Thobile Mkhatshwa, for presenting the key outcomes achieved from 2019 to 2024, as reflected in the Science Technology Innovation Legacy Report. Mkhatshwa outlined the committee’s key achievements during this period and proposed a series of recommendations for the incoming Administration. “As a portfolio, we are at the forefront of change. We must be intentional in driving this change,” she says, describing the committee’s actions as inclusive, impactful and transformative.
Dr Philemon Mjwara, the Director-General of the Department of Science and Innovation (DSI), underscored the importance of prioritising science and acknowledging how the national system of innovation supports the government’s initiatives. Science and innovation have demonstrated that significant change is possible when embedded in government and society. This was evident during the Covid-19 pandemic, where South Africa’s scientists assisted the government in making decisions on variants, vaccines and genomic surveillance. “Building a science ecosystem takes time and patience,” he said. “The next administration will witness scalability and greater impact.”
Among the distinguished dignatories in the science and innovation landscape were several former bursary recipients of the CSIR and the National Research Foundation (NRF). Regarded as great legacies of the Sixth Administration, these beneficiaries were invited to share the impact of the committee’s investment in their science careers. CSIR candidate engineer, Lukhanyo Somlota; National Integrated Cyberinfrastructure System (NICIS) – Centre for High Performance Computing (CHPC) cloud lead, Zama Mtshali; and NRF-funded researchers, Ruvimo Mhari and Dr Ali Elbashier attended, with Somlota and Mtshali sharing their journeys of becoming scientists.
“Being a top-performing student in school and at university set me on a path to a career in civil engineering,” stated Somlota. “The CSIR funded my studies from my second year onwards. Challenges during my university years humbled me and despite it taking seven years to complete a four-year degree, the patience and support I received as a CSIR employee enabled me to overcome the obstacles stacked against me.” Upon graduating, Somlota immediately received work placement at the CSIR’s Stellenbosch office. “Here I was introduced to port and coastal engineering, where I am a key researcher and the only black woman on my team.
“When you get good grades, you get good things in life,” Mtshali shared, detailing her humble beginnings and journey as an NRF-funded intern placed at the CHPC. “After I completed my honours degree, I was absorbed into the CSIR, where I contributed to building the fastest super-computer in Africa. Following this, I got involved in cloud computing where I led the deployment of the first NICIS cloud computing system, Sebowa – a system that was used to provide computing resources to solve the Covid-19 crisis at the time.”
Sharing their journeys of becoming young professionals in science, technology, engineering, mathematics and innovation, served as a living testament that the efforts invested to ensure students receive funding and support do yield dividends, resulting in life-changing careers in science and innovation.
Committee members were also treated to a walkabout of the South African Isotope Facility at the iThemba Labs, providing them with a unique opportunity to engage with the investment and its application in science and innovation.
Photo: Attending the presentation of the Sixth Parliament Legacy Report are, from left: CSIR CEO, Dr Thulani Dlamini; Group Executive: Business Advancement at the National Research Foundation, Dr Thandi Mgwebi; Director-General of the DSI, Dr Phil Mjwara; CSIR candidate engineer, Lukhanyo Somlota; CSIR Board Chair, Vuyani Jarana; and NICIS-CHPC cloud lead, Zama Mtshali. Photograph: DSI
Seven students from the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) took first prize in the Student Cluster Competition (SCC) and won a sponsored trip to the Dell High Performance Computing and AI lab in Texas.
The SCC is organised by the Centre for High-Performance Computing (CHPC), which is supported by the Department of Science and Innovation, and the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR). It challenges undergraduate students to design, build, and manage mini-supercomputers for real-world scientific tasks.
The prize included training at Dell Labs and a chance to represent South Africa at the International Super Computing (ISC) Student Cluster Competition in Hamburg, Germany from 12 to 16 May 2024.
“The South African government’s support of international cyber infrastructure excellence is paying off,” stated Coach Nyameko Lisa, reflecting on their experience at the Texas Advanced Computing Centre (TACC). “The CHPC must continue to leverage partnerships and collaboration so we can use technology to solve our challenges locally and across the continent.”
During their visit to TACC, the team delved into modern HPC systems crucial for AI workflows worldwide. The immersive experience included visits to institutions like NASA and the University of Houston, providing invaluable exposure to bleeding-edge technology.
Ryan Rautenbach, advisory systems engineer for Dell Technologies South Africa, emphasises HPC’s power in driving AI and analytics: “As it becomes more accessible, HPC is enabling important discoveries and solving some of the most important challenges of our time.”
Photo: Students had to build mini-supercomputers for real-world scientific tasks.
The CHPC’s HPC Ecosystems Project is delivering the second virtual hands-on training lab for OpenHPC 2.x from 16 February to 4 March 2024.
The virtual lab is open to HPC practitioners and anyone who is HPC-curious. The instructions are delivered asynchronously online and will guide participants to deploy a 3-node OpenHPC 2.x cluster with the deployment performed on your personal computer using Virtual Box.
Upon the conclusion of the training, participants may opt to keep the virtual 3-node cluster on their system to facilitate future learning and training. All instructions are available for self-paced learning and live support will be offered through a virtual classroom environment. The entire virtual lab is expected to require no more than 15 to 20 hours of hands-on time to complete.
It was an auspicious occasion in Midrand this recently, when Dell Computing rewarded the Student Cluster Competition winning team for the hard work they displayed at the CHPC’s National Conference in December 2023.
University of the Witwatersrand’s Reinhard Janse van Buren, Lily de Melo, Michell Nielson, and Mikyle Singh all received Dell Latitude 3540 laptops to the value of about R26,000 each. The four, together with Ithumeleng Khaka and Nhlonipho Shezi both from the University of the Free State, make the team that will represent South Africa at the internal round of the competition in Hamburg, Germany, in June this year.
Mohammed Amin, Dell Senior Vice President for META Region, travelled from Dubai to wish the students well in the competition. He further emphasised Dell’s commitment in supporting the Students Cluster Challenge.
“Dell shares in the CHPC vision of developing the next generation of high-performance computing talent for South Africa and the Student Cluster Competition is one such vehicle that prepares all the participating students for the more highly skilled jobs of the future,” said CHPC Director: Mervyn Christoffels.
Dell Computing is the technology partner of the CHPC Student Cluster Competition and provides the computer equipment the CHPC teams use in the competition. The generous support also includes an international trip to the Texas Advanced Computing Center and the Dell Labs in Texas, United States where the team of six will receive training and mentoring from some of the best technologists in the world. The team departs for Austin, Texas on 2 February.
Background
The CHPC, annually hosts a training program for undergraduate students currently enrolled in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics fields at South African universities, where they spend an intensive week during the winter vacation period receiving training in aspects of high-performance computing. Students are provided with remote computing resources, hosted at the Advanced Computer Engineering Laboratory of the CHPC in Cape Town.
From the candidates that participate in this first preliminary round, ten qualifying teams, comprising of four student participants and one mentor, then participate at the centre’s national conference, with high performance computer equipment sponsored and provided for by the centre’s various vendors and sponsors. The team that wins this secondary round is then sponsored and supported to travel to Austin, Texas, in the United States of America to train at the University of Texas’s, Texas Advanced Computing Center and the headquarters of Dell Labs. Following this they travel to the International Super Computing Conference to participate at the International Student Cluster Competition in Germany against competitors from all around the world.
