What is HPCVL?

Economists studying the stock market model the global effects of capital flow. Atmospheric scientists analyze global weather patterns. Psychologists model the brain and human memory. Biotechnologists and computational chemists design complex molecules for innovative new drugs. Engineers model blood flow in artificial hearts. Such research requires the analysis of terabytes of data and intricate mathematical calculations that would take years to perform on even the most sophisticated desktop computer. Using HPCVL, researchers can do it in weeks, days or hours.

HPCVL stands for the High Performance Computing Virtual Laboratory, a cluster of fast and powerful Sun computers at five Ontario universities and computers at five Ontario universities and two colleges, Queen's University, Royal Military College and St. Lawrence College in Kingston, Carleton University and the University of Ottawa in Ottawa, Ryerson University and Seneca College in Toronto, and Loyalist College in Belleville. In addition to reliable, secure computing, HPCVL provides storage resources and support for over 130 Canadian research groups, comprising some 800 researchers, working in a variety of fields.

More and more, high-performance computing (HPC) is playing an indispensable role in the cultivation of scientific knowledge and technological development, and this trend will only increase in the future. HPCVL is currently one of Canada's leading secure HPC environments.

Why is HPCVL a Canadian success story in public/private collaboration?

HPCVL is a $200 million public/private collaboration for research and innovation. Public funding is provided by the Government of Ontario, the Ontario Research Fund (ORF), the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI), the Ontario Innovation Trust (OIT), and the federal Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC).

Sun Microsystems is a key partner in HPCVL. As of 2006, HPCVL is the largest Sun Microsystems installation of its kind in the world. Sun's belief in HPCVL and in collaborative research has provided in-kind investments to HPCVL past, current and future of over $100 million. Much more than a big computer , HPCVL is composed of Research Chairs in multiple disciplines, over 1000 Graduate Students and Post-Doctoral Fellows trained in advanced parallel programming techniques, and over $700K in graduate scholarships and expert user support.

HPCVL has been designed, built and is run in a secure virtual manner. It is accessible from anywhere in Canada providing researchers with the secure HPC resources they need to do innovative research that will help build Canada's economy while providing high return on capital investment for government and industry.

Where is HPCVL?

HPVCL's administrative offices and large central compute and storage clusters are based in Kingston. Workup servers are located at Royal Military College in Kingston, at the University of Ottawa and Carleton University in Ottawa, and at Ryerson University and Seneca College in Toronto.

How is HPCVL Governed?

HPCVL has a Board of Trustees with members appointed from member institutions and non-academic sectors. Responsibility for the formulation and implementation of policy and all operations rests with the Executive Director who reports to the Board. The Executive Director obtains advice on scientific and technical matters from the Technical Advisory Committee (TAC). TAC members are appointed by the Board from both the academic and the private sector. Please see the associated diagram of the governance structure.

HPCVL Organization Chart

Member Sites

Contact Us

Queen's University
115-993 Princess Street
P.O. Box 5 Kingston, Ontario, Canada
K7L 1H3
Tel (613) 533-2561
Fax (613) 533-2015

Dr. Ken Edgecombe
Executive Director, HPCVL
Phone: (613) 533-2561
Fax: (613) 533-2015
E-Mail: Ken Edgecombe

Ashley Wightman
Adminstrative Assistant, HPCVL
Phone: (613) 533-2561
Fax: (613) 533-2015
E-Mail: Ashley Wightman

Chris MacPhee
Operations Manager, HPCVL
HPCVL Queen's University
Phone: (613) 533-6000 ext. 78375
E-Mail: Chris MacPhee

Costa Dafnas
Research Computing Security Officer
Phone: (613) 533-2561
Fax: (613) 533-2015
E-Mail: Costa Dafnas

Mohammad Nikseresht
Software/System Engineer
HPCVL Carleton University
Phone: (613) 520-2600 ext. 8758
E-Mail: Mohammad Nikseresht

Jim Estes
System Engineer
HPCVL Queen's University
Phone: (613) 533-6000 ext. 790455
E-Mail: Jim Estes

User Support Contacts

Dr. Hartmut Schmider
Scientific Computing Specialist
Phone: (613) 533-6000 ext. 78252
Fax: (613) 533-2015
E-Mail: Hartmut Schmider

Dr. Gang Liu
Scientific Computing Specialist
Phone: (613) 533-6000 ext. 78387
Fax: (613) 533-2015
E-Mail: Gang Liu

Michael Hanlan
Web Developer/User Support
Phone: (613) 533-6000 ext.78263
Fax: (613) 533-2015
E-Mail: Michael Hanlan

Dr. Nabil Benabbou
Scientific Computing Specialist
Department of Physics
University of Ottawa
Phone: (613) 562-5800 ext. 6937
E-Mail: Nabil Benabbou

Omran, Massoud
Scientific Computing Specialist
Carleton University
Phone: (613) 520-2600 ext. 1861
E-Mail: Massoud Omran