Advanced Computing and Computational Modeling.
LINKS has a strong background in Cloud Computing, grown in time through the acquisition of deep knowledge about the correlated technology. It’s in this field that the skills necessary for applicative solutions development in public Cloud environment and design and integration of resources orchestration and management in private Cloud environments matured.
The experience gathered in Cloud Computing allowed the dedicated team to expand its interest domain to High Performance Computing (HPC), where the ability to develop advanced software solutions for the efficient management of computing resources and code development on heterogeneous computing systems finds its place. For this reason the team has, on one hand, acquired many competences on creation and management of combinatory optimisation models that aim to optimally use computing resources through machine learning techniques. On the other hand the constant introduction of new computing technology has led to acquiring knowledge and development skills in software solutions for computing accelerators (GPUs, FPGAs) so as to fully satisfy the performance and energy efficiency requirements. To that end, the team is actively involved (both as a partner and coordinator) in many research projects funded by the European Commission. A recently started and very productive research activity in quantum computing technology completes the competences acquired in the HPC field, establishing a prominent spot at a national and international level in one of the most cutting-edge themes in research. The study and development of optimisation algorithms for quantum-gate and quantum-annealing systems are part of this.
The acquisition of such competences allows the team to support aerospace sector industries like AvioAero that intend to take advantage of the most advanced high-performance computing (HPC) technology for large-scale simulation (CFS, Multiphysics, etc.). The team acts as a link between the scientific and technological research world and the development of innovative solutions required by the industry world.