CPFD Software has donated two Graphical Processing Units (GPUs) to the Strauss Lab at McGill University. The Strauss lab looks at the structure of viruses, and how they change during infection. The lab uses cryo-electron microscopy to take many images of viruses, and then recombines the images into a 3D representation revealing the finest details of each virus.
“Combining these images – often amounting to hundreds of GBs of data – is computationally intensive and is now being accelerated by the use of GPUs. The amount of memory on the GPU cards determines the maximum size of the object we can work on, and in the case of large viruses, limits the detail we can resolve. These donated cards will effectively double the information content in our most challenging projects, and let us tackle problems of a substantially larger scale.”
– Dr. Mike Strauss, Assistant Professor
Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, McGill University
“With the upcoming release of Barracuda Virtual Reactor 21, the optimal types of GPUs we use are changing,” said Peter Blaser, Vice President of CPFD Software. “It used to be we needed GPUs with the largest amount of memory possible. But with the streaming memory and multi-GPU capabilities in the upcoming version 21 release, we are actively upgrading our compute capabilities with NVIDIA Volta and Ampere-series cards, since onboard RAM is no longer a limitation for Virtual Reactor. After learning of Professor Strauss’ research and GPU needs, we were thrilled to partner together to support his team’s research!”
For more about Professor Strauss and the Strauss Lab, click here.
For more about Barracuda Virtual Reactor and GPU / multi-GPU computing, watch our presentation at NVIDIA GTC 2021.
About CPFD Software
CPFD Software has specialty expertise in fluid-particle systems and simulations. Our Barracuda Virtual Reactor software technology, provides particle-fluid dynamics simulation for engineering design and optimization of industrial fluidized systems and components. Virtual Reactor simulation solutions are provided worldwide via software licensing, simulation services, engineering consulting and technology transfer programs.
About McGill University
McGill University is one of Canada’s best-known institutions of higher learning and one of the leading universities in the world. With students coming to McGill from over 150 countries, our student body is the most internationally diverse of any research-intensive university in the country. The mission of McGill University is the advancement of learning and the creation and dissemination of knowledge, by offering the best possible education, by carrying out research and scholarly activities judged to be excellent by the highest international standards, and by providing service to society.