EEBA's High Performance Home Blog

EEBA is grateful to have two of our National Laboratories as Alliance Partners. Their expertise and scientific innovation have benefited research around the country. But did you know that these two partners are part of a much larger group of 17 National Laboratories?

The Department of Energy’s National Labs have been around for more than seventy years as a result of the U.S. Government heavily investing in scientific research during World War II. They each address large-scale, complex research and development challenges placing an emphasis on “translating basic science into innovation.”

Some of the National Labs have supercomputers they use to model and simulate complex, dynamic systems that would be too expensive, impractical or impossible to physically demonstrate enabling scientists to explore renewable energy, weather forecasting, biological systems, as well as the evolution of the universe. Half of the fastest supercomputers in the world are located at National Laboratories. These high-performance computing systems are made “available to researchers from industry and academia so that these public investments in state-of-the-art technology are able to generate the greatest possible intellectual and economic benefit.”

The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), along with HP and Intel, developed the Peregrine supercomputer that is warm-water, liquid-cooled and is the primary source of building heat for NREL’s Energy Systems Integration Facility offices and laboratories.

Using the power of supercomputing, the Los Alamos National Laboratory is studying wildfire behavior.

Here’s a little more about each Laboratory:

• The Pacific Northwest National Laboratory invented “optical digital recording” back in the 70’s that was an important design element for CDs and DVDs.
• Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory is highly involved in materials science research using supercomputers “to calculate the properties of every existing inorganic compound” - both on earth, and otherwise.
• Oak Ridge National Laboratory is creating specialized fuel for NASA and other missions into space.
• Ames Laboratory are researching “the second dimension” - the ability to see individual atoms.
• Argonne National Laboratory is looking inside the bones of dinosaurs. Using an extremely bright X-ray technology will look inside of and study T-rex arm bones.
• Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory is working to create and harness the power of a star on Earth.
• Brookhaven National Laboratory created the first modern video game - “Tennis for Two” - over 50 years ago.
• Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory is focused on particle physics solving the “mysteries of matter, energy, space and time.”
• The SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory uses lasers to capture fast-moving processes - fast like femtoseconds (quadrillionths of a second).
• The Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility explores the nature of matter using a particle accelerator known as the Continuous Electron Beam Accelerator Facility.
• Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory is doing research that will make you think about Bruce Willis in Armageddon - they are studying nuclear explosives that could be used to heed an asteroid collision with Earth.
• Sandia National Laboratories is all about national security as their recent accomplishments in nuclear deterrence, energy and homeland security, global security, and more.
• Idaho National Laboratory created the first nuclear-powered submarine - in the desert of Idaho!
• National Energy Technology Laboratory’s mission is to discover, integrate, and mature technology solutions to enhance the nation’s energy foundation and protect the environment for future generations.
• Savannah River National Laboratory is using virtual reality to “decommission” a 60-year-old Cold War-era production nuclear reactor.