Request for Information: Access to High Performance Computing Resources at Department of Energy National Labs

Offices: Advanced Materials & Manufacturing Technologies, Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management 

Tracking Number: 0003130 

Description  

On July 21, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced the High Performance Computing for Energy Innovation (HPC4EI) initiative is seeking public input to better understand the perceived value of HPC capabilities to small-and-medium-sized manufacturers (SMMs) and companies who have participated in the initiative in the past.  

The RFI was issued by DOE’s Advanced Materials & Manufacturing Technologies Office (AMMTO) and the Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management (FECM). 

Topic Areas  

The RFI seeks information in the following categories: 

Category A: Respondent Type 

Questions in this section inquire about industry and organization details, where your organization lies within the supply chain ecosystem, your organization’s modeling and simulation activities and/or wishes, and what current computing resources your organization utilizes to meet its modeling and simulation needs.  

Category B: Value of HPC to Industry 

The purpose of this section is to dig further into your organization’s experience with HPC, any obstacles you’ve faced that have prevented you from exploring HPC, your motivations for seeking out HPC, and how HPC is valuable both to your industry in general and to your company specifically.  

For example, what use cases for HPC would be most beneficial to your company (modeling, machine learning, code building, other?) and what types of problems (e.g. complex fluid flow, materials modeling, process parameter optimization) are you interested in modeling or investigating using HPC?  It also seeks input on how to best measure success and how to incentivize HPC utilization within the manufacturing sector and by SMMs in particular.  

Category C: Experience with HPC4EI program 

The third category delves into your organization’s prior HPC4EI experience, including how you were first made aware of the program, challenges faced during the application process, and suggestions for improvement.  

It asks specific questions related to your company’s previous HPC4EI project participation and solicits recommendations for changes that would increase overall participation, share lessons learned with the broader manufacturing community, and better engage with diverse and minority businesses and universities. Finally, it provides an opportunity to share ideas for scaling the impact of the program.