During a recent visit to Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Secretary of Energy Chris Wright unveiled plans for the development of NERSC-10, the upcoming flagship supercomputer at the National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center (NERSC), a prominent U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) facility. Slated for completion in 2026, the new system will bear the name of Jennifer Doudna, the renowned biochemist based at Berkeley Lab who garnered the 2020 Nobel Prize for Chemistry for her pioneering work on CRISPR gene-editing technology.
The cutting-edge supercomputer, a collaboration between Dell Technologies and NVIDIA, will harness NVIDIA’s next-generation Vera Rubin platform to cater to a spectrum of high-performance computing (HPC) tasks, including molecular dynamics, high-energy physics, and AI operations. This state-of-the-art system is poised to revolutionize the landscape of scientific research by providing a robust infrastructure for the intricate workflows that underpin modern scientific breakthroughs.
U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright emphasized the significance of the Doudna supercomputer in bolstering American leadership in science, AI, and high-performance computing. He lauded the system as a catalyst for innovation that will drive advancements in energy development, quantum computing, and AI research, likening the pivotal role of AI in contemporary scientific endeavors to the historic Manhattan Project.
Boasting over ten times the performance of its predecessor, the Perlmutter supercomputer, the Doudna system will leverage cutting-edge technologies such as Dell’s advanced direct liquid-cooled server technology and the NVIDIA Vera-Rubin CPU-GPU platform to deliver unparalleled computational power.
Michael Dell, Chairman and CEO of Dell Technologies, underscored the collaborative effort with the Department of Energy on the Doudna project as a testament to their shared vision of pushing the boundaries of high-performance computing to drive innovation. Jensen Huang, founder and CEO of NVIDIA, hailed the Doudna supercomputer as a transformative tool that compresses years of scientific discovery into days, enabling researchers to delve deeper into the mysteries of the universe.
NERSC Director Sudip Dosanjh highlighted the Doudna supercomputer’s versatility in accelerating diverse scientific workflows. The system’s integration with the Energy Sciences Network (ESnet) will facilitate seamless data transfer from DOE facilities across the country, enabling real-time analysis and enhancing collaboration among scientists.
Anticipated to catalyze breakthroughs in fusion research and other key scientific domains, the Doudna supercomputer will empower researchers to integrate AI seamlessly into their simulations, accelerating discoveries in areas such as materials science, biomolecular modeling, and fundamental physics.
Equipped with state-of-the-art quantum simulation tools, including NVIDIA’s CUDA-Q platform, the Doudna system is poised to drive quantum algorithm development and facilitate the co-design of future quantum-HPC systems, further expanding the horizons of computational research.
The supercomputer will feature an array of advanced components, including Dell Integrated Rack Scalable Systems, NVIDIA Quantum-X800 InfiniBand networking, and a high-performance parallel file system, culminating in a robust platform to support complex scientific workflows and real-time computing needs.
NERSC, positioned as the primary high-performance computing facility for the DOE Office of Science, stands at the forefront of enabling scientific innovation with over 11,000 users and 800 projects annually. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory continues its legacy of pioneering research across various scientific disciplines, driving advancements in energy solutions and discovery science.
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