Purpose

From Wiki

The BASS system will primarily support five on-campus groups (the NIH/NIBIB National Research Resource on Computer-Integrated Systems for Microscopy and Manipulation; the Institute for Advanced Materials, Nanoscience and Technology; the Biomedical Research Imaging Center; the Virtual Lung project; and the Mathematical Biology Research Laboratory) and two off-campus groups (the Renaissance Computing Institute and the NIH Resource for Macromolecular Modeling and Bioinformatics at UIUC). See User_Groups.

Most modeling and simulation computation is done mainly by separate groups with data previously collected. By being able to conduct real-time image analysis, important additional measurements will be made during the data collection time frame which will, in turn, lead to new discoveries as compared to the less efficient "collect then model" mode now being used.

The BASS system is designed to support a set of targeted NIH-sponsored research projects in biomedical microscopy and medical image analysis. The supercomputer's required capabilities were determined based on the needs of specific UNC-based NIH-sponsored research projects. Target applications range from single molecule simulation of protein interactions through clotting disorders to lung defense in Cystic Fibrosis and MRI atlas formation to diagnose disease. The presumption is that a machine designed to really solve particular problems is likely to be better suited to a wide range of actual applications than a "general purpose" design.