WA supercomputers receive federal govt support

The Pawsey Supercomputing Centre will receive $70 million in funding from the federal government.

This investment in Western Australia will pay national dividends, helping deliver discoveries and advances that will have practical benefits for all Australians.

Pawsey is one of two facilities that make up Australia’s research high-performance computing capability. This additional funding will help a world-class facility become a world-leading one.

Businesses use Pawsey to create and test new concepts and improve existing processes and products, assisting Australian industry to be more efficient, productive and therefore more globally competitive. For example, Pawsey’s supercomputers help advance medical research, nanotechnology, mining, construction and urban planning. They improve combustion in supersonic engines and model the physics of extreme waves to capture energy.

Pawsey plays an integral role in the collection and use of data generated at the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder and the Murchison Widefield Array telescopes.

Maintaining Australia’s reputation for research excellence is necessary to attract, develop and retain the very best of the world’s research practitioners, data providers and students.

45 highly skilled researchers, engineers and technicians are employed at Pawsey, and many more are trained there.

The government’s investment in supercomputing is in addition to its $10.3 billion commitment to research and development in the 2017–2018 Budget.

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