MSU ranks 4th in U.S. academia for supercomputing power

STARKVILLE, Miss.—Mississippi State University is again among the nation’s elite in supercomputing power.

MSU’s Orion supercomputer is the fourth most powerful academic data center in the U.S., according to rankings released this week by Top500.org. Orion is ranked at No. 68 on Top500’s list of the world’s most powerful computing systems. Managed by MSU’s High Performance Computing Collaboratory, Orion was installed on campus last summer with the support of $22 million in grants from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

Capable of processing five thousand trillion calculations (five petaFLOPS) per second, Orion is powering research and development advancements in weather and climate modeling, autonomous systems, materials, cybersecurity, computational modeling and more.

“MSU has a longstanding history of being a leader in high performance computing, and I am proud that we continue to be ranked among the best in the country and the world in this area,” MSU President Mark E. Keenum said. “More importantly, I’m proud that our world-class researchers, along with numerous distinguished scientists in the national government, are using Orion to drive innovation, solve critical problems and create new opportunities in our state as we collaborate with government and industry partners. I’m so very pleased that high performance computing is an area where Mississippi excels.”

Mark Keenum and Craig McLean talk in front of MSU's Orion Supercomputer — MSU President Mark E. Keenum, right, speaks with NOAA Assistant Administrator for Oceanic and Atmospheric Research Craig McLean after MSU and NOAA marked another research partnership in December with a ribbon-cutting for the Orion supercomputer at MSU. Orion is the fourth most powerful academic data center in the U.S. The computing power at MSU is a key asset for economic development in the state and positions MSU to continue to develop critical research partnerships with federal agencies. (Photo by Megan Bean)

In addition to NOAA, MSU’s high performance computing capabilities have led to critical partnerships and research opportunities with the United States Department of Agriculture, NASA, the National Science Foundation, Department of Defense, Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Energy, among other state and federal agencies.

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MSU is Mississippi’s leading university, available online at www.msstate.edu.

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