Weather forecasts, airplane simulations, reactor accidents... analyzing and processing large amounts of data requires the computing power of a supercomputer – alongside the right algorithms and a skillful support team. The Center for Information Services and High-Performance Computing (ZIH) at TU Dresden operates several clusters for supercomputing which in total comprise more than one hundred thousand CPU cores and a total computing performance of more than 10 PFlop/s (quadrillions of computing operations per second).

The latest episode of “At work with...” introduces us to Danny Rotscher, one of the System Administrators for the ZIH’s high-performance computer. In the video, he reveals what the supercomputer can do and what to do if there's a hardware problem.

“Smartphones today have the same computing power that high-performance computers had in the past,” explains the IT specialist, who is fascinated by the fact that more and more computing power fits into ever smaller spaces. “Naturally, this makes the whole process more energy-efficient.”

Danny Rotscher also supports trainees who are completing their vocational education to become IT specialists at ZIH. He himself completed his vocational training at TUD from 2012 to 2015. “I always found it extremely interesting to work at the university,” he said, adding, “I’m no biologist or chemist,” but putting yourself in the shoes of the user and helping them find solutions to their problems is a particular challenge.

Hardware provides ideal conditions for achieving the ambitious research goals of users both inside and outside the ZIH. TU Dresden has been one of the selected locations for”National High-Performance Computing” since 2021, the aim of which is to provide scientists at German universities with enough computing capacity for their research.

In the video series "At work with...," TU Dresden's social media team accompanies employees of TU Dresden or its partner institutions for the day. The videos provide insight into the diverse areas of work and responsibilities at TU Dresden and show the people behind everything that makes us special and who perform their jobs with extraordinary passion and dedication! More videos are available on the YouTube channels “TU Dresden entdecken” (“Discover TU Dresden”) and “TU Dresden probieren” (“Try TU Dresden”)

For more information on the supercomputer at TU Dresden, please visit: https://tu-dresden.de/zih/hochleistungsrechnen

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TU Dresden Social Media Team