The NCHC and CHPC MoA signing ceremony. From left to right are the CHPC’s Director, Dr. Happy Sithole, Representative from the South African Liaison Office in Taiwan, Dr. Petrus Meyer, the NCHC’s Director, Dr. Eugene Yeh, and the NARL’s President, Dr. Dr. Joe Juang.Taiwan’s National Center for High-Performance Computing’s (NCHC) Director, Dr. Eugene Yeh, and South Africa’s Center for High-Performance Computing’s (CHPC) Director, Dr. Happy Sithole, jointly signed a MoA on 02/25/2008. The MoA signing ceremony was held at the National Applied Research Laboratories’s (NARL) (the NCHC’s parent organization), office in Taipei, Taiwan. This MoA serves as a basis for technology exchange between the two institutes including HPC, R&D, and human resources. The MoA also manifests diplomacy through technology, thus, disseminating HPC knowledge and facilitating the cross training of HPC professionals.The MoA signing was overseen by Dr. Joe Juang, President of the NARL, and Representative, Dr. Petrus Meyer, and Deputy Representative, Dr. C. A. du Toit, both of the South African Liaison Office in Taiwan. According to the MoA, both sides will begin collaboration on virtual reality (VR) technology to include technology exchange and personnel training utilizing a virtual environment. The NCHC has agreed to assist the CHPC in creating a 3D display system and support team.
Following that, discussion and collaboration on networking, grid technology, and the development of HPC applications (e.g. physics and computational fluid dynamics) will take place. Being the only HPC center in South Africa, the CHPC functions in a similar role as the NCHC. In addition to signing the MoA, Dr. Happy Sithole plans to study the operational roles of the three NCHC branches and lea from the NCHC’s experience in building Taiwan’s technology infrastructure. He then plans to apply this knowledge to the building of South Africa’s IT infrastructure.Having accumulated several years of HPC experience, the NCHC is honored to be able to assist South Africa in the building their own HPC environment. The NCHC is pleased to be able to transfer its technology and experience to the CHPC and, at the same time, mutually benefit from its new ally. Through this MoA, both institutions can begin personnel and technological exchange and collaboration, thus, becoming a foundation for successful interaction and opening the door for the two govements to collaborate through technology.
