Accelrys to Coordinate Materials Design Project
Accelrys has announced that it will coordinate a GBP 1.8m (US$3.25m) project to deliver an innovative computational service that aims to speed research and development for organizations developing or applying novel materials. The UK Department of Trade and Industry's Under-Secretary of State for Science and Innovation, Lord Sainsbury, has announced funding of GBP 930,000 (US$1.7m) in support of the project, which has been named 'the Materials grid' (www.materialsgrid.org).
The balance of the funding and the technical and scientific resources will be provided by the project partners -- Accelrys Ltd., IBM, the University of Cambridge, CCLRC - Daresbury Laboratory and the Johann Wolfgang Goethe Universitat Frankfurt.
The project aims to create a unique database of critical electronic and physical materials properties based on highly accurate quantum mechanical simulation methods and using the power of grid computing. Scientists will use a web portal to rapidly search the database, receiving pre-computed properties where available, or triggering new calculations that fill in missing data. Users will be able to donate data and grid resources in exchange for access, ensuring the continued growth of the service.
Such a comprehensive, shared, and dynamic resource will provide critical information that could accelerate the development and use of new custom materials. Potential applications include the construction of lighter, stronger alloys for aircraft; improvements in the performance of electronic devices; or the design of more sensitive medical sensors.
Accelrys will manage the project, provide scientific and software development expertise, and commercialize resulting technology.
IBM will provide servers, storage and expertise to establish a computational and data grid environment for the project, as part of its commitment to accelerating emerging technologies into business realities.
The team from the University of Cambridge will include Professor Martin Dove from the Department of Earth Sciences and the National Institute for Environmental eScience (NIEeS), Professor Peter Murray-Rust from the Department of Chemistry's Unilever Centre, and Professor Andy Parker from the Department of Physics' Cambridge eScience Centre. The University of Cambridge will provide a substantial part of the grid computing environment. In part this work will build upon the successes of existing eScience projects that these partners run, including the eMinerals and World-wide Molecular Matrix projects.
CCLRC - Daresbury Laboratory, one of the UKs eight Research Councils, provides large scale experimental, data and computing facilities to the International Research Community. The Data Management Team led by Kerstin Kleese van Dam will develop and support the project's data infrastructure, as well as provide access to the results of the experimental work carried out at the Council's experimental facilities relevant to the project. CCLRC's contribution will build on past e-Science projects such as eMinerals and e-Materials.
The Institute of Mineralogy of the Johann Wolfgang Goethe-Universitat, Frankfurt am Main will provide quantum mechanical calculations, drawing on expertise and software from the group of Professor Bjorn Winkler. The University's Center for Scientific Computing will provide substantial computational resources to the project.
"The UK Government's support for this innovative project recognizes the increasingly important role that computational tools are playing in the rational design of commercially important materials," says Mark Emkjer, president & CEO of Accelrys. "This multi-partner, collaborative project, focused on delivering a new service to industry is a model for the development of these technologies."
