A bright future in Texas computational science

Scientists escaped the early Fall Texas heat at the Texas Advanced Computing Center, which hosted the TACC Symposium for Texas Researchers (TACCSTER) September 23-24, 2025. 

More than 150 scientists, engineers, scholars, and students from 30 Texas institutions gathered to explore TACC’s advanced computing technologies, including GPU-powered supercomputers, while exchanging ideas, learning new methods, and building in-person networks. The event offered computational scientists’ insight into both hardware (GPUs, systems, performance) and applications (AI, simulations, data-intensive research).

“We want to give researchers a platform to share the latest on their projects — how they’re using TACC’s systems, the challenges they face, their successes — as well as how TACC can support them,” said Joe Allen, who leads TACC's Campus Engagement Office and the organization of the annual symposium.

TACC supports the scientific computation of researchers at all 13 University of Texas System institutions on its Lonestar6, Stampede3, Vista, and Frontera supercomputers through allocations awarded by The University of Texas Research Cyberinfrastructure (UTRC). Additionally, TACC supports the needs of scientists nationwide through the National Science Foundation-funded Advanced Cyberinfrastructure Coordination Ecosystem: Services & Support (ACCESS) program.

TACCSTER25 featured invited speakers presenting research across diverse scientific domains supported by TACC from gravitational wave astronomy to natural hazards modeling, ancient DNA, riverbed erosion, and more. The agenda also included lightning talks, tutorials, poster sessions, one-on-one meetings with computing experts, data center tours, a Town Hall-style Q&A with TACC leadership, and opportunities for networking and collaboration.

Invited Speaker: Vagheesh M. Narasimhan, UT Austin. Understanding the Past 10,000 Years of Human Prehistory Through the Lens of Ancient DNA

Genetic data collected from ancient human bone fragments has increased a hundred-fold over the last 15 years and led to the Nobel Prize in 2022. Narasimhan presented results of two studies that expanded the geographic range of genetic sequences throughout Eurasia (Europe and Asia) that gives clues to its complex population history.

His group analyzes ancient DNA to uncover how people migrated across Eurasia during the last 10,000 years, shaping the genetic makeup of modern populations. He also studies natural selection and human evolution by comparing genetic data across different time periods.

 “Genetics is a large data problem, but it’s also a naively parallel problem because nature decided it was so,” said Narasimhan, citing the three billion bases of the human genome and the way genetic segments on different chromosomes are independently inherited.

Narasimhan has logged more than 100,000 node hours on TACC’s Frontera system, along with 10,000 hours on Lonestar6 and Vista.

“My group develops the computational methods to delve into these questions as well as sequencing samples and combining computation with genetic data to understand to understand whether and how people move. TACC provides the ideal environment and resources for this work,” Narasimhan said.

Invited Speaker: Soumya Mohanty, UT Rio Grande Valley. Computational and Statistical Challenges in Gravitational Wave Astronomy

The first detection of a gravitational wave in 2015 opened a new window on cataclysmic events such as black hole collisions and earned a Nobel Prize.

Two detectors of the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) — in Hanford, Washington and Livingston, Louisiana — caught the first gravitational wave. In the last 10 years, new detectors in Europe, Japan, and one planned in India have generated a goldmine of data. 

“Gravitational waves are different from light," Mohanty said. "As they pass through space, they squeeze and stretch. Counterintuitively, this changes the distance between objects without moving the objects themselves.”

“The challenge comes from the fact that the signals are buried deep in the detector noise, and that's why data analysis plays a critical role in gravitational wave astronomy,” he added.

Over the years, TACC has supported Mohanty’s research with supercomputer allocations through UTRC on systems including Lonestar 4–6, Stampede2–3, Maverick, and Corral.

“The foundational work in developing our gravitational wave analysis was done on TACC systems, which helped us acquire our own GPU cluster. We continue to work on that, and later we hope to push that work back onto TACC to scale up and make new discoveries."

State of the Center Address

TACC Executive Director Dan Stanzione outlined the priorities of TACC and future opportunities and challenges for Texas computational researchers.

 “We exist to serve all our users and their advanced computing needs," Stanzione stated. "We appreciate this event because not only do we get to show new systems and services, but we get to hear about how scientists use the systems to make real discoveries.” 

* The Horizon supercomputer, launching in 2026 as part of the National Science Foundation’s Leadership-Class Computing Facility, will be the largest academic system in the NSF portfolio dedicated to open scientific research.

* TACC users have earned high honors, including the 2024 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for David Baker (University of Washington), whose work was powered by Frontera simulations.

* TACC systems continue to anchor cutting-edge science, with Vista and Stampede3 coming online in 2024. Vista, TACC’s first AI-focused resource, is a shared national asset through the U.S. National Artificial Intelligence Research Resource (NAIRR) pilot. Stampede3 extends the Stampede legacy as the NSF ecosystem’s flagship system, now enhanced with AI capabilities. Frontera remains the nation’s most powerful academic supercomputer, while Lonestar6 continues as the primary workhorse for research across Texas.

* Power-saving opportunities exist for researchers to optimize their scientific codes to take full advantage of the GPU capabilities of existing and new systems. 

“Come explore the new hardware that we're offering,” Stanzione added.

Inaugural Paul A. Navrátil Young Researcher Award

During TACCSTER25, Deputy Director Kelly Gaither and Executive Director Dan Stanzione paid tribute to Paul A. Navrátil, who shaped TACC as Director of Visualization and later as Director of Strategic Technologies.

The inaugural award recipients are:

Excellence in Publication: Zheyu Wen for advancing Alzheimer’s research with imaging, modeling, machine learning, and HPC.

Excellence in Presentation: Jaesuk “Eugene” Park for developing scalable machine learning workflows for force constant computations.

“TACCSTER is for anyone enthusiastic about science and high performance computing, a place to discover, connect, and see what’s happening at the forefront of the field,” Allen concluded. 

Learn more about TACCSTER 2025:

• TACCSTER 2025 Website
• TACCSTER Proceedings, 2019-2024 (2025 available in December)