Johnson Matthey and Microsoft Azure Quantum have joined forces to facilitate advancements in sustainable energy research. Utilizing quantum chemistry calculations, Johnson Matthey has already observed a doubling in the speed of their research, with much more potential for further progress. These two companies acknowledge that in order to achieve a zero-carbon future, significant advancements in chemical and materials science will be necessary, and they are eager to collaborate in making a positive impact on the world.
The company’s mission is to empower scientists to expedite the next 250 years of chemistry discovery in just 25 years. Their strategy to achieve the goal involves working alongside pioneers in the field who share their passion for making an immediate impact while preparing for the future of quantum computing.
One of their valued collaborators is Johnson Matthey, a renowned global leader in sustainable technologies, with over two centuries of experience in innovation and technological advancements in areas such as transport, energy, and chemical processing.
Revolutionizing Sustainable Energy Research with Remarkable Acceleration in Quantum Chemistry Calculations.
By partnering with Azure Quantum‘s chemists, Johnson Matthey is spearheading the development of cutting-edge predictive modeling tools using Azure HPC’s supercomputing capabilities and optimized workflows to accelerate chemical simulations.
The collaboration also aims to leverage the potential of AI and quantum computing. The result has been a remarkable acceleration of certain quantum chemistry calculations and a significant reduction in turnaround time for their scaled workloads, from six months to just a week.
These groundbreaking capabilities have had a profound impact on the pace of Johnson Matthey’s computational chemistry and materials science research and development (R&D), setting new standards for innovation in the industry. We are thrilled to be working with Johnson Matthey and other pioneers to drive sustainable energy research forward and make a meaningful impact on the world.
Leveraging Azure Quantum’s Predictive Modeling Tools and HPC Capabilities for Nanoparticle Simulations.
Through the use of these tools in conjunction with Azure HPC’s supercomputing capabilities, the team has been able to enhance the throughput of the requisite calculations, thereby facilitating a better understanding and design of new electrocatalyst materials.
“With Azure HPC, we’ve seen about a 50 percent speedup on some of our chemistry calculations that we run—which is critical for R&D because every second counts, not just for getting the results quickly, but also in terms of cost and throughput.”
Glenn Jones, Research Manager, Johnson Matthey Technology Center.
The remarkable acceleration capabilities are facilitated through the utilization of state-of-the-art Azure HPC hardware that is specifically designed for the exigencies of chemistry and materials science workloads. The Azure HPC cloud offers the potential for massively parallel calculations required for chemical and materials science discovery, augmented by InfiniBand-connected CPU/GPU architectures that expedite tightly coupled molecular simulation workloads.
To manage the complexities associated with such parallel computations and the voluminous datasets that are produced, workflow tools such as AiiDA may be employed. Moreover, Azure deployment tools provide a viable solution for the quick setup and management of computational chemistry and materials science environments in the cloud.
“Since we’re using Azure, we are quantum-ready and on the path to tap into the power of quantum computers once available in the cloud through Azure Quantum. This will revolutionize how we conduct chemistry simulations.”
Glenn Jones, Research Manager, Johnson Matthey Technology Center.
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