ANNUAL REVIEW 2025
2010 - 2014
BuIldIng for the future
2010
In 2009, iVEC secured $80 million in funding as part of the Australian Government’s Super Science initiative, to establish a petascale supercomputing facility.
Housed at the Australian Resources Research Centre in Kensington, the new facility would support Australia’s astronomy and space science sector, as well as other critical scientific fields.
The Pawsey Centre … will house a supercomputer capable of performing computational science almost 55,000 times faster than a typical PC.
Commerce Minister Bill Marmion announcing funding of $3.6m for Western Australia's Interactive Virtual Environments Centre (iVEC), 2010
2011
Years Active: 2011–2014
Details: HP ProLiant, 9,600 Intel X5660 cores
Compute Power: 9600 cores
EPIC
What is happening with the SKA and the supercomputer is the modern-day equivalent of landing on the moon, and it's happening right here in our own backyard.
Australia's Minister for Science and Research Chris Evans, 2012
2013
By 2013, the new centre was operational, and in 2014 Magnus was handed to researchers and the Centre launched under the name the Pawsey Supercomputing Centre, in honour of the prominent Australian scientist Joseph Pawsey.
Known as the founder of Australian radio astronomy for his work in the field of interferometry, Dr Pawsey’s research underpins the extraordinary international SKA project, just one of many advanced scientific projects today supported by the centre that carries his name.
iVEC is committed to ensuring Australia maintains its place as a world leader in research and scientific computing, and the Pawsey Centre is a critical pillar in this strategy.
iVEC Executive Director Dr Neil Stringfellow, 2013
With a new name and centre came new computing firepower — supercomputers Magnus (Cray XC40) and Galaxy (Cray XC30) were installed, representing a leap forward in HPC capacity.
When launched, Magnus was the 42nd fastest supercomputer in the world, while Galaxy — dedicated to radio astronomy science — ranked at 209.
Together they led to the rebadged Centre being declared a Centre of Expertise in High Performance Computing by the Australian Computer Society — testament to the speed and power of these early supercomputers.
Galaxy
Years Active: 2013–2022
Details: Cray XC30, 9,440 cores, 64 GPUs
Compute Power: 9440 cores
2000
2010
2015
2020
2025
25 years powered by pawsey
If you have any feedback about our new interactive report, or if you or your organisation would like support from Pawsey to help you reach new frontiers, get in touch!
General / Administration
P +61 8 6436 8830
F +61 8 6436 8555
Pawsey Supercomputing
Research Centre
1 Bryce Avenue
Kensington WA 6151
Australia
Enquiries
Media Enquiries
P +61 8 6436 8920
pr@pawsey.org.au
The Pawsey Supercomputing Research Centre is supported by the Australian Government through a $70 million grant made under the Industry Research and Development Act and administered by the Department of Industry, Innovation and Science. Pawsey is also supported by the Australian Government under the National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS) through the Department of Education. The Centre would also like to acknowledge the support provided by the Western Australian Government and its Partner organisations.
We are grateful for the support of our core partners.
Website by Purple.
ANNUAL REVIEW 2025
2010 - 2014
BuIldIng for the future
2010
Paul Nicholls
Hear the story
In 2009, iVEC secured $80 million in funding as part of the Australian Government’s Super Science initiative, to establish a petascale supercomputing facility.
Rebecca Hartman-Baker
Hear the story
Housed at the Australian Resources Research Centre in Kensington, the new facility would support Australia’s astronomy and space science sector, as well as other critical scientific fields.
The Pawsey Centre … will house a supercomputer capable of performing computational science almost 55,000 times faster than a typical PC.
Commerce Minister Bill Marmion announcing funding of $3.6m for Western Australia's Interactive Virtual Environments Centre (iVEC), 2010
George Beckett
Hear the story
Megan Clark
Hear the story
2011
Years Active: 2011–2014
Details: HP ProLiant, 9,600 Intel X5660 cores
Compute Power: 9600 cores
EPIC
What is happening with the SKA and the supercomputer is the modern-day equivalent of landing on the moon, and it's happening right here in our own backyard.
Australia's Minister for Science and Research Chris Evans, 2012
2013
By 2013, the new centre was operational, and in 2014 Magnus was handed to researchers and the Centre launched under the name the Pawsey Supercomputing Centre, in honour of the prominent Australian scientist Joseph Pawsey.
Known as the founder of Australian radio astronomy for his work in the field of interferometry, Dr Pawsey’s research underpins the extraordinary international SKA project, just one of many advanced scientific projects today supported by the centre that carries his name.
iVEC is committed to ensuring Australia maintains its place as a world leader in research and scientific computing, and the Pawsey Centre is a critical pillar in this strategy.
iVEC Executive Director Dr Neil Stringfellow, 2013
With a new name and centre came new computing firepower — supercomputers Magnus (Cray XC40) and Galaxy (Cray XC30) were installed, representing a leap forward in HPC capacity.
When launched, Magnus was the 42nd fastest supercomputer in the world, while Galaxy — dedicated to radio astronomy science — ranked at 209.
Together they led to the rebadged Centre being declared a Centre of Expertise in High Performance Computing by the Australian Computer Society — testament to the speed and power of these early supercomputers.
Galaxy
Years Active: 2013–2022
Details: Cray XC30, 9,440 cores, 64 GPUs
Compute Power: 9440 cores
2000
2010
2015
2020
2025
Website by Purple.
If you have any feedback about our new interactive report, or if you or your organisation would like support from Pawsey to help you reach new frontiers, get in touch!
25 years powered by pawsey
General / Administration
P +61 8 6436 8830
F +61 8 6436 8555
Pawsey Supercomputing
Research Centre
1 Bryce Avenue
Kensington WA 6151
Australia
Enquiries
Media Enquiries
P +61 8 6436 8920
pr@pawsey.org.au
The Pawsey Supercomputing Research Centre is supported by the Australian Government through a $70 million grant made under the Industry Research and Development Act and administered by the Department of Industry, Innovation and Science. Pawsey is also supported by the Australian Government under the National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS) through the Department of Education. The Centre would also like to acknowledge the support provided by the Western Australian Government and its Partner organisations.
We are grateful for the support of our core partners.