Again the SCC has opened its doors to numerous members of the general public in 2016. During a total of 70 events more than 1300 guests had the opportunity to visit the SCC and see our systems and infrastructure.
As a part of the "orientation phase" for freshmen, 680 students, split into 27 groups, gained an insight into the HPC data center rooms at Campus South. Again this meant a significant increase compared to the last years. Further guided tours were offered as parts of lectures, school projects, job training and student orientation weeks, conferences and galas as well as cooperations with industry partners, KIT institutes and working groups. The HPC systems operated by the SCC, the storage facilities at Grid Computing Centre Karlsruhe (GridKa) and a cooperation with the Synchrotron Radiation Source "ANKA" operated by the Institute for Beam Physics and Technolgy (IBPT) enable flexible tours in front of impressive sceneries.
Alongside the many visitor groups, various members of the press found their way to the SCC and produced photographs and video content. One of the highlights was the inauguration of the new "Forschungshochleistungsrechner II" (ForHLR II) supercomputer system in April 2016. The new system has made an appearance in the new image movies for the City of Karlsruhe and the Chamber of Industry and Commerce (IHK) Karlsruhe. Various regional and nation-wide television newscasts, among them the "Tagesschau" (one of the most watched newscasts on German television) have also reported on the new ForHLR II system. A 360° video of the HPC data center at Campus North was produced in cooperation with the Department of Informatics.
Last but not least our visitors were not only able to inform themselves about state-of-the-art technology, but also get a "hands-on experience" with the artwork "Growing Stone" by artist Timm Ulrichs, created especially for the data center building housing the ForHLR II supercomputer.
The Scientific Computing Center wishes to thank all visitors and members of the press for their great interest and is looking forward to an exciting year 2017. The first events in the next year have already been scheduled.
Simon Raffeiner