NASA awards supercomputer work

NASA officials announced a $49.4 million award to Arlington, Va.-based Advanced Management Technology Inc. (AMTI) for technical support on supercomputing research and development.

Under the terms of the cost-plus-award-fee and performance-based task order, AMTI will provide services for the Advanced Supercomputing Division at NASA's Ames Research Center. The performance period is two years, with a one-year base period and one option year.

Ames' Silicon Graphics Inc.-built Columbia supercomputer, which has hit processing speeds of 51.87 teraflops, is second in a worldwide performance ranking of the 500 fastest supercomputers.

The contract comes after NASA recently unveiled plans to cut up to 25 percent of supercomputing employees at Ames. NASA expects 10 percent of the center’s 70 supercomputing workers to accept buyouts.

NASA officials eliminated 50 of 120 supercomputing contractors at Ames last year.