RMIT, AWS forge a deal for supercomputing in the cloud

RMIT University will use supercomputing to tackle issues such as disease prevention, extreme weather forecasting and citizen safety.

RMIT University Melbourne campus

RMIT University will use supercomputing in the cloud to tackle issues such as disease prevention, extreme weather forecasting and citizen safety. It has signed a deal with Amazon Web Services.

In what is a boost to RMIT’s research and education capabilities, the supercomputing facility will let RMIT run cloud-based high performance computing applications for advanced manufacturing, space, fintech, digital health, and creative technologies.

Workloads such as genomic sequencing, autonomous vehicle simulations, and atmospheric modelling are often too large to run using traditional servers,” says RMIT.

Professor Aleksandar Subic, RMIT deputy vice-chancellor (STEM College) and vice president digital innovation

The university will collaborate with telecommunications provider AARNet which will provide high-speed internet and communication services.

Multinational tech firm Intel will offer advanced technology solutions for processing large, complicated data sets.

RMIT deputy vice-chancellor Professor Aleksandar Subic said the facility had been supported by the Victorian Government Higher Education Investment Fund and was an example of innovation in the university sector.

“Our collaboration with AWS, Intel, and AARNET to establish Australia’s first cloud supercomputing facility represents a step change in how universities and industries access HPC capabilities for advanced data processing and computing,” Professor Subic said.

AWS director and country leader for worldwide public sector ANZ Iain Rouse

“Our industry partners will also have access to the new cloud supercomputing facility through joint projects and programs.

“The facility will be operated by our researchers and students in another example that shows how industry engagement and work integrated learning are in our DNA.”

AARNet chief executive Chris Hancock said AARNet had provided RMIT and other Australian universities with telecommunications services for transformational research outcomes for decades.

“We’re excited to be partnering with RMIT on this project that uses our ultra-fast network to remove the barrier of geography and distance for research across Australia and beyond.”

AWS director Iain Rouse said the organisation was proud to support RMIT’s research initiatives.

He said the cloud facility would enable researchers, students, and industry across a broad range of sectors to design solutions and bring them to market sooner.

“We’ve also been connecting researchers to the cloud for many years, but nothing on this scale,” he said.