A local researcher this month was the first to complete a project on Tulsa’s new community supercomputer, which can crunch massive amounts of data in minutes rather than hours or days. On July 3, Brek Wilkins, a post-doctoral research associate at Oklahoma State University’s Center for Health Sciences, was able to refine a software technology he developed that will predict the onset of a heart attack within minutes.

Because the supercomputer is able to conduct calculations at a rate more than 100 times faster than a desktop computer, Wilkins said he was also able to complete calculations from 24-hour EKG data – impossible on his desktop computer – in about five minutes. “But what’s most exciting is the ability to use the Tandy supercomputer to help us refine OSU-CHS research at more advanced stages and turn it into commercial technologies that individuals can use,” Wilkins said. He has been working on the project with Bruce Benjamin, the Center for Health Sciences’ interim vice provost of graduate programs. Benjamin said that if a patient is diagnosed early and begins treatment early, a catastrophic event such as a heart attack can often be prevented. “By utilizing the Tandy Supercomputer, we can conduct the research necessary to develop this technology so that we can begin diagnosing and treating these patients much earlier,” he said.

The supercomputer can handle tons of data with its 1,600 processing cores, performing more than 35 trillion calculations per second. And its size shows it. “It’s got it’s own floor at City Hall,” OSU-Tulsa spokesman Sean Kennedy said. Dedicated May 23, the $3.5 million Tandy Community Supercomputer was funded with $2 million from the A.R. and Marylouise Tandy Foundation and $800,000 from the U.S. Economic Development Administration. It is open to local universities, corporations, small businesses and entrepreneurs and can be used for all kinds of research. The supercomputer is […]