Keynote Speakers

Day 1: Monday 02 September 2024, at 9:00 aM

Dr. Ayman Ghulam

CEO of National Center of Meteorology

Biography:

Biography: Dr. Ayman bin Salem Ghulam is Chief Executive Officer of National Center for Meteorology, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Supervisor of the Regional Centers emerging from the Middle East Green Initiative (MGI) Summit (Climate Change, Sand & Dust Storm, Cloud Seeding Program). Permanent Representative of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). Chairman of the Executive Office of Arab Ministers of Meteorology. Chairman of the Arab Permanent Committee on Meteorology. Chairman of the International Tropical Cyclone Committee in the Arabian Sea. Member of the Permanent Committee for Meteorology and Climate in the Gulf Cooperation Council and the High Authority for Capacity Development at the US National Center for Atmospheric Research. Dr. Ghulam was The Vice President for Meteorological Affairs with Grade 14, In the General Authority of Meteorology and Environmental Protection (GAMEP) previously known as the Presidency of Meteorology and Environment (PME) in 1995. In addition, Dr. Ghulam held several positions throughout the years; Director of Weather Modifications Techniques in the Saudi National Program of Cloud Physics Research and the Deputy of Meteorological Affairs. Also, he was Executive Council Member at the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). He graduated from King Abdulaziz University, with a Bachelor’s and a Master’s degree in Meteorology specialized in Remote Sensing. Later on, Dr. Ghulam moved to Norwich, United Kingdom and received his PhD in Heavy Thunderstorm Simulation from the University of East Anglia in 2007.

Topic:

“The Operational Forecasting System of the National Center for Meteorology of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia”

Abstract:

The National Center for Meteorology (NCM) of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is committed to achieving excellence in weather and climate services, aiming to enhance societal safety, prosperity, and environmental sustainability. The center’s mission focuses on delivering high-quality forecasts and climate information to safeguard lives, properties, and contribute to economic growth. Key strategic objectives include providing comprehensive weather forecasts and reliable observational data across the Kingdom, issuing eﬃcient and timely early warnings, expanding tailored meteorological services to diverse sectors, and supporting national resilience to climate change through reliable medium and long-term predictions. NCM maintains cutting-edge technical capabilities and international accreditations through collaborations with global research institutions and meteorological organizations. Ensuring a highly skilled meteorological workforce is achieved through partnerships with educational institutions. The National Center for Meteorology (NCM) in Saudi Arabia has advanced its High-Performance computing (HPC) systems for better weather forecasting. Initially using CDC supercomputers in the 1980s and 1990s, NCM moved to PME clusters from 2000 to 2019. Since 201ti, they have collaborated with King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) to use the Shaheen 2 HPC system. In 2020, NCM launched its own HPC system with ti00 CPU nodes, 30 GPU V100s, and 25 PB of storage. NCM operates weather, marine, and flooding models as well as climate models and climate change scenarios with high resolution to meet operational demands. The National Center leads eﬀorts in advancing numerical weather and climate modeling, including research on atmospheric physics parameterizations, data assimilation systems, ensemble techniques, and display systems. Additionally, a model for real-time prediction using artificial intelligence has been developed. Numerous studies have been conducted on climate change impacts, dust storms, and weather modification. The organization aims to excel in weather and climate services, enhancing safety, prosperity, and environmental sustainability. It delivers high-quality forecasts, protects lives and property, promotes economic growth, expands tailored meteorological services, supports national climate resilience, maintains advanced technical capabilities through global collaborations, and enhances meteorological workforce competency through educational partnerships. NCM presents successful case studies and practical applications of HPC and AI in various industries, demonstrating the impact of advanced computing in weather prediction and climate studies. NCM showcases client and partner testimonials, highlighting the eﬀectiveness of their forecasting services and the benefits of advanced computational technologies. Examples include flood predictions for Jeddah in 2022 and recent flooding events across the Kingdom, Gulf countries, and beyond, which we’ll cover in this presentation. This abstract underscores NCM’s commitment to providing timely, accurate forecasts crucial for public safety and sustainable development in Saudi Arabia

Day 2: Tuesday 03 September 2024, at 9:00 aM

Dr. Jysoo Lee

Facilities Director of Research Computing Core Labs, KAUST

Biography:

Dr. Jysoo Lee, Facilities Director of the Research Computing Core Labs at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) was recently honored as part of SupercomputingAsia (SCA)’s annual conference for leading pioneering initiatives to develop South Korea’s HPC community and driving activities that have advanced international cooperation. Having worked in the area of HPC for more than 30 years, Lee has made numerous contributions to the establishment and development of high-performance computing in his native South Korea. Among those achievements, he led the effort for the legislation of the “National Supercomputing Promotion Act” to enhance people’s quality of life and the economic development of the nation through the efficient use of supercomputing. He became the founding director-general of NISN (National Institute of Supercomputing and Networking), an organization created to pursue this national objective. Lee also played an active role in building South Korea’s HPC communities by leading the establishment of the Korean Society of Computational Sciences and Engineering (KSCSE). His latest position before joining KAUST was as the director of the Supercomputing Center in KISTI (Korea Institute of Science and Technology Information).

Topic:

“High Performance Computing and Artificial Intelligence Activities in KAUST: An Overview”

Abstract:

An overview of scientific computing activities in KAUST will be given. I will focus on KSL and KVL (KAUST Supercomputing Core Lab and Visualization Core Lab) which are responsible for high-performance computing, artificial intelligence, and visualization services for research. Current status and future plan for its computing system will be discussed. Also described are applications and enabling roles played of KSL. I will finish by explaining plan for building a stronger computational ecosystem of the Kingdom

Day 2: Tuesday 03 September 2024, at 9:25 aM

Mr. Bruno Lecointe

Group VP Business support HPC AI & Quantum - EVIDEN

Biography:

Bruno LECOINTE is VP of Group Business Support HPC AI Quantum at Eviden, where he leads the pre-sales, benchmarkers, and centers of excellence. Bruno has more than 22 years of experience in HPC business and technical topics, with a strong focus on customer satisfaction. He started in the year 2000 with Alinka, a deployment, and end-to- end management software for HPC systems. Then joining NEC in 2004 to initiate and grow the scalar cluster, he moved to lead successfully NEC HPC vector and scalar business for Western Europe and the Middle East.

Topic:

“(Eviden) AI in Action: Empowering Weather Simulation and Climate Modeling ”

Abstract:

While HPC has long been crucial for weather forecasting and climate modeling, AI is now driving breakthroughs that accelerate innovations against global warming and climate change. To build AI-accelerated, high-density computing systems, organizations must address challenges in hardware, software, and application development. Integrating GPU accelerators requires careful consideration of cooling, storage, and networking. Our next-gen Direct Liquid Cooling (DLC) has set a new record by empowering Europe’s first Exascale system, whose testing rack achieved the #1 Green500 ranking this year. AI integration also introduces new application-level challenges. Leveraging our extensive experience with European weather and climate institutions, we have supported advancements in workload acceleration, algorithm testing, and simulation precision. Our collaborations with ECMWF and European climate projects like ESCAPE, ESiWACE, LEXIS, and IO-SEA have successfully developed CPU-GPU-based systems tailored for data-centric workflows, enhancing weather and climate forecasting through improved accuracy, timeliness, and predictive capabilities. Furthermore, the fight against global warming and eﬀective weather forecasting is a collective eﬀort. Eviden believes it is crucial to equip all weather and climate institutions with next-gen AI-driven supercomputing resources, enabling simulation and modeling anytime, anywhere. During the session, Bruno Lecointe, Group VP of Business HPC, AI & Quantum at Eviden, will provide insights into key considerations for AI-driven HPC system eﬃciency and share lessons learned from optimizing applications through extensive collaboration with leading European weather and climate institutions.”

Day 2: Tuesday 03 September 2024, at 10:00 AM

Mr. Aniello Esposito

Principal Research Engineer

Biography:

Aniello works as a principal research engineer in the EMEA research lab at HPE, where he is involved in advanced customer collaborations and mainly responsible for the cooperation with KAUST (KSA). He has a pivotal role in the advancement of hybrid quantum-classical supercomputing at HPE and is involved in pre-sales as an expert application analyst for European procurements as well as for acceptance testing and application support. Aniello studied physics at ETH Zurich, followed by a PhD on simulation of semiconductor devices and postdoctoral research in computational microscopy. He joined Cray as an application analyst at the HLRS in Stuttgart (Germany) and soon began supporting users of other European sites with specialized workshops and acceptance testing. Throughout his career, he successfully leveraged early access to new technologies such as GPUs and many-core architectures for procurement and research. His expertise and interests reside in the development and optimization of scientific supercomputing applications ranging from state-of-the-art numerical methods to machine learning and AI as well as quantum computing.

Topic:

Sustainable Data Centers

Abstract:

The environmental impact of data centers is significant and is growing rapidly. However, there are many opportunities for greater efficiency through integrated design and management of data center components. Hewlett Packard Labs proposed a sustainable data center that replaces conventional services in the physical infrastructures with more environmentally friendly IT services. In related publications, the basic principles for achieving this vision have been presented as well as specific use cases for their application. Successful implementation of the sustainable data center vision will require multi-disciplinary collaboration across various research and industry communities. This presentation discusses this HPE Labs vision as well as related work done by the HPE EMEA research lab.