Lexington, Massachusetts and Seattle, WA— September 12, 2005 — Atmospheric and Environmental Research, Inc., a leader in earth, atmosphere and space science R&D, and global supercomputer leader Cray Inc. (Nasdaq NM: CRAY), announced today they are collaborating to offer a highly affordable solution that provides local forecast information for a variety of uses that is scalable, flexible, entirely customizable and delivered on the award-winning Cray XD1 supercomputer.
The combination of AER's advanced science and Cray's powerful supercomputers offers an end-to-end solution for addressing the local forecasting and alerting needs of organizations constrained by modest or limited budgets. The AER software is based on science and technology originally developed to support severe weather forecasting for the Athens Olympics. The Cray XD1 supercomputer's scalability for meeting high-performance processing requirements, and AER's nCast software architecture with unique storm advection and visualization capabilities, complement each other, benefiting the customer and delivering valuable environmental information as web-based graphics for mission-critical uses.
"We are enthusiastic about the potential of our modeling and alerting capabilities on the Cray platform. The AER-Cray solution is very well suited to deliver exceptional results for a broad range of users," said Cecilia Sze, AER's President and CEO.
"AER's advanced science has resulted in an application that offers the same flexibility and scalability supported by our hardware, and leverages the benefits of Cray's superior price/performance metrics. Forecasting severe weather with tools such as these has relevance worldwide," stated Per Nyberg, Cray's Earth Sciences Business Manager.
nCast is a local weather software package that is easily tailored to meet very specific needs. It provides localized model forecast elements such as temperatures, winds, pressure and precipitation, to assist in weather forecasting, scientific research or operational support. AER provides web-based graphical services as well as installation and model training, and support and maintenance packages. Optional features include automated alerting, key forecast indices and cloud or precipitation advection models.
The Cray XD1 supercomputer combines direct-connect system architecture, high-performance computing (HPC)-optimized Linux, management and reconfigurable computing technologies to deliver exceptional performance on real-world applications. Purpose-built for demanding HPC applications such as computational chemistry, environmental forecasting and CAE, the Cray XD1 system lets users simulate, analyze and solve complex problems more quickly and accurately. The x86-based Cray XD1 system supports a broad range of 32- and 64-bit HPC applications on AMD Opteron™ single- or dual-core processors. The Cray XD1 system also provides application acceleration capabilities using field-programmable gate array (FPGA) technology tightly connected to the direct-connect structure.
About Cray
As the global leader in HPC, Cray provides innovative supercomputing systems that enable scientists and engineers in government, industry and academia to meet both existing and future computational challenges. Building on years of experience in designing, developing, marketing and servicing the world's most advanced supercomputers, Cray offers a comprehensive portfolio of HPC systems that deliver unrivaled sustained performance on a wide range of applications. Go to www.cray.com for more information.
About AER
Founded in 1977, Atmospheric and Environmental Research, Inc. is an award-winning environmental research and consulting company with demonstrated expertise in numerical weather prediction, remote sensing, satellite meteorology, climate dynamics and radiation, circulation diagnostics, atmospheric chemistry, air quality and risk assessment, oceanography, planetary sciences, space weather and systems engineering. In addition to its Lexington, MA headquarters, AER has offices in Omaha, NE; and San Francisco, CA. For more information, visit our web site at www.aer.com.
Safe Harbor Statement
This press release contains forward-looking statements. There are certain factors that could cause Cray’s execution plans to differ materially from those anticipated by the statements above. These include the technical challenges of developing high-performance computing systems, the successful porting of application programs to Cray computer systems, reliance on third-party suppliers, and Cray’s ability to keep up with rapid technological change. For a discussion of these and other risks, see “Factors That Could Affect Future Results” in Cray’s most recent Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q filed with the SEC.
Cray is a registered trademark, and Cray XD1 is a trademark, of Cray Inc. AMD, AMD Opteron and combinations thereof are trademarks of Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
Contacts:
AER, Inc.
+1 781-761-2288
Marketing Communications
Contact Us
Cray, Inc.:
Melissa Power
InterProse Inc.
+1-401-454-1314
melissa_power@interprosepr.com
John Snyder
Investor Relations
+1-206-262-0291
john@snyderir.com