Q. When do you expect Mira to be up and running?
A. Our hope is that we will receive the machine sometime in the third quarter of 2012 or early in 2013. Then it will take us three or four months to stand it up. It’s made up of 48 racks that weigh 2 tons each, so it takes a while to wheel it in, put it in place and wire it up.
Q. What are some cool projects being run on the supercomputer right now?
A. There is a current study on concrete that is pretty exciting. Concrete production is a $100 billion a year industry in the U.S. and generates a lot of carbon dioxide. A researcher from the National Institute of Standards and Technology is using the computer to figure out how to design better concrete that produces less out-gassing.