Secrets of powerful computers revealed in new course

EXPERTS at a university have launched a “supercomputers for dummies” course to help explain the world’s most powerful numbercrunching machines.

No programming experience or specialist knowledge is necessary to take part in the five-week online programme run by the High Performance Computing Centre (EPCC) at the University of Edinburgh.

Supercomputers, which typically fill a large room, use many processors in parallel to perform many billions of calculations per second.

The machines are used to study complex problems and engineering challenges, such as forecasting climate change, designing spacecraft or modelling disease spread.

Students on the new course will be given an introduction to supercomputers, how they are used and how their power can be applied in science.

David Henty, course co-ordinator at the EPCC, said: “Every day, challenges such as forecasting the weather are met using supercomputing.

“We hope that lots of people who are curious about how and why this is done will enjoy learning about this technology and its applications.”

The programme, entitled Supercomputing, uses simple analogies, videos and quizzes to explain fundamental concepts.

Hosted by the FutureLearn platform, it is the latest in a series of open-access online courses from the university that have attracted more than two million participants.

The history of supercomputing dates back to the early-1920s in America, where technology firm IBM introduced high-performance tabulators at Columbia University.