IBM awards USI with a high-end server - International recognition for scientific research

Prof. Walter Binder of the USI Faculty of Informatics has received an IBM Shared University Research (SUR) award, established by the company to promote excellence and innovation in scientific research. The recognition, officially conferred today, consists of a modern high-end server - an IBM Power 755's - for use by the Dynamic Analysis Group.

The new multicore machine will further the relationship between USI and one of the largest IT companies in the world. Because of this, a joint research project aimed at formulating innovative methods designed to test and optimize the efficiency of such high-end systems will be established. "We are working on programming models, algorithms, and optimizations in order to better take advantage of modern multicore architectures for emerging workloads" said Prof. Binder, who with Dr. Lydia Chen of the Datacenter Optimization group at IBM Research - Zurich will coordinate the project. USI President Piero Martinoli and Dr. Matthias Kaiserswerth, Director of IBM Research Zurich, were in attendance at the ceremony, along with the involved researchers.

The development of so-called workload-optimized systems is one of the emerging "mega" trends in IT. "Virtualization on all levels and the transition to cloud computing models, in which companies obtain the IT services needed in a flexible manner from a cloud provider rather than build up their own IT infrastructure, offer great potential for holistic optimization of vital applications," explains Dr. Matthias Kaiserswerth. "With scalable and highly optimized end-to-end solutions, companies are able to increase their productivity while saving on time and cost."

USI President Martinoli has emphasized the importance of collaboration between academia and the world of industrial research: "A game requiring teamwork," states Martinoli,  "increasing in importance, capable of supporting science and its beneficial effect on society, even in the difficult years of economic uncertainty. A teamwork of particular relevance in this case, with one of the most important research institutes in the world".

Photos of the award ceremony are available for download from the following link: www.copyrightfree.ch

Further information:

• Christopher P. Sciacca
  Manager, Communications
  IBM Research - Zurich.

  IBM Research GmbH
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• Giovanni Zavaritt
  Servizio comunicazione e media
  Università della Svizzera italiana

  Università della Svizzera italiana
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  Lugano, Switzerland, CH-6904
  office: +41 58 666 4792
  [email protected]