Thursday, October 9, 2008

UMaine to use pedal power to drive SiCortex supercomputers

By Mass High Tech Staff

Next week, Maynard-base high-performance computing technology developer SiCortex Inc. will team with the University of Maine’s computer science department — and its cycling team — to demonstrate the state’s first “green supercomputer.”

The greening of the system is based on SiCortex’s low-power processing platform, which is a 72-processor machine that uses less than 300 watts of power. Comparatively, according to company officials, traditional systems use about 100 watts of power per processor, while the SiCortex platform uses about one half a watt of power per processor.

To demonstrate the machine’s ability to operate at lower power needs, the university will employ the services of a team of bicyclists from the UMaine Cycling Club to power the system. After the demonstration, the unit will be moved to the laboratory of computer science professor Phillip Dickens, where it will run on traditional power sources.

Founded in 2003, SiCortex has developed a “plug and play” high-performance computing architecture that can provide a complete, open source cluster node on a single chip, while keeping power consumption low. The company aims to make cluster computing power available to all kinds of researchers, regardless of their access to large systems at national laboratories or other sites.

The company has raised a total of $52 million in equity and debt funding, the most recent coming last July, when it pulled in $10 million in debt funding. Investors include Waltham-based Polaris Venture Partners, Cambridge-based Flagship Ventures, Needham-based Prism Venture Partners and Chicago-based JK&B Capital.