{"id":57018,"date":"2025-08-04T05:32:08","date_gmt":"2025-08-04T05:32:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/57018\/"},"modified":"2025-08-04T05:32:08","modified_gmt":"2025-08-04T05:32:08","slug":"meet-betty-penns-newest-supercomputer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/57018\/","title":{"rendered":"Meet Betty, Penn’s newest supercomputer"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\tPenn will now have access to a supercomputer in Collegeville called \u201cBetty\u201d to aid in AI research.
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCredit: Chenyao Liu<\/a> \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Penn researchers are leveraging artificial intelligence to expand their capabilities with a new off-campus supercomputer named Betty.\n<\/p>\n

The supercomputer<\/a> \u2014 a powerful stack of graphics processing units and central processing units \u2014 was developed by the high-performance computing company NVIDIA and is located in a data center in Collegeville, approximately 30 miles from Penn\u2019s campus. Betty was designed to handle AI programs that can interpret large datasets and produce increasingly refined results, adapting over time to meet specific instructions from researchers.\n\t\t<\/p>\n

Penn Advanced Research Computing Center<\/a> Associate Director of AI and Technology Kenneth Chaney described Betty as the product of collaboration between several of Penn\u2019s schools, including the School of Engineering and Applied Science, the Perelman School of Medicine, and the School of Arts and Sciences in a statement to The Daily Pennsylvanian.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cThe needs for modern AI research have grown to a scale \u2026 where it is no longer feasible to be maintained by any one school,\u201d Chaney wrote, adding that representatives from Penn\u2019s schools joined forces with the Office of the Vice Provost for Research \u201cto create this resource and provide researchers the capability to explore new problems that need the computational power provided by Betty.\u201d\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Marylyn Ritchie, the vice dean of artificial intelligence and computing at the Perelman School of Medicine, explained the technology as an opportunity to grow with research needs and foster partnerships across disciplines.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the future, we will be leveraging AI in all areas of research,\u201d Ritchie wrote in a statement to the DP. \u201cWhile GPU computing may only be needed in some fields today, I think we will see it adopted in many\/most fields in the future.\u201d\n\t<\/p>\n

Betty also demonstrates a shift toward shared high\u2011performance computing at Penn. Instead of each lab maintaining its own servers \u2014 which Ritchie described as costly and impractical \u2014 researchers can now access a centralized resource through PARCC.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cThe standard model for computing is that a research lab buys the computers that they need for their research,\u201d Ritchie wrote. \u201cThe reality is that most labs do not use their computers 24\/7, so they sit idle much of the time.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

\u201cThe benefit of a computing center like Betty is that the campus community can share the computers so that they get optimal usage,\u201d Ritchie continued. \u201cThis shared resource should better serve our researchers to enable computation at a scale that is difficult to do within one\u2019s own lab.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

Both Chaney and Ritchie noted that hosting the supercomputer off campus was a practical decision. According to Ritchie, Betty requires \u201cspecialized energy and cooling systems,\u201d which would have been difficult to supply on campus. Chaney wrote that \u201cthe current iteration requires 1MegaWatt of power,\u201d which he described as \u201cimpossible to scale locally\u201d in urban Philadelphia.\n<\/p>\n

However, Ritchie emphasized that Betty \u201cand all future computers in PARCC\u201d will be fully accessible regardless of the system\u2019s physical location off-campus.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you can access the network at Penn, you will be able to access Betty,\u201d she added.\n<\/p>\n

The supercomputer was named in honor of Frances \u201cBetty\u201d Holberton, a pioneer for women in computing and one of the six original programmers of the Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer developed at Penn in the 1940s. The name is a nod to the University\u2019s role in the history of computing innovation.\n\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\tSign up for our newsletter<\/p>\n

Get our newsletter, DP Daybreak, delivered to your inbox every weekday morning.<\/p>\n

The future of computing remains promising, according to Chaney, who wrote that Betty is currently in a pilot phase with \u201c10 research labs and 47 researchers on the system in active use.\u201d\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

Early partners include Computer and Information Science assistant professor Dinesh Jayaraman with \u201cProject Eureka<\/a>,\u201d Bioengineering and CIS assistant professor Pranam Chatterjee developing \u201clarge models for biomolecular methods<\/a>,\u201d and Department Chair and Adani President’s Distinguished Professor of Computer and Information Science Zack Ives with \u201cNSF AIRFoundry<\/a>.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

Chaney noted that Betty\u2019s early rollout is the beginning of a \u201ca very bright future\u201d for supercomputers involving new resources and collaborations \u201cenabled by this system.”<\/p>\n

The Daily Pennsylvanian is an independent, student-run newspaper. Please consider making a donation<\/a> to support the coverage that shapes the University. Your generosity ensures a future of strong journalism at Penn.<\/p>\n

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