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MSU to unveil new $3m supercomputer

Andy Keen supercomputer photo
Kevin Lavery
/
WKAR
MSU information technologist Andy Keen checks his relatively ordinary laptop as the Laconia supercomputer behind him processes data.

Michigan State University is cutting the ribbon tomorrow on its new supercomputer. Current State’s Kevin Lavery has a report.

Remember Pi Day about three months back? It was in the middle of March. To be exact, it was on 3-14? Many of us know that the classic math term that represents the ratio of a circle’s circumference to its diameter starts off with 3.14159.

Pi is a seemingly endless number. So far, it’s been expanded to more than 13-trillion digits! That number was achieved by a supercomputer.

Tomorrow, Michigan State University cuts the ribbon on its own supercomputer. The new $3-million supercomputer is part of a cluster that’s run by MSU’s High Performance Computing Center.

Current State’s Kevin Lavery speaks with Andy Keen, an information technologist at MSU, about how a supercomputer differs from the devices that so many of us use every day.

Kevin Lavery is a general assignment reporter and occasional local host for Morning Edition and All Things considered.
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