“The University of Applied Sciences of Graubünden knows Pi best - world record!
By early Saturday morning it was clear: The world record calculation of the number Pi by the University of Applied Sciences Graubünden was successful, the record is back in Switzerland after two American record holders. The high-performance computer at the Center for Data Analytics, Visualization and Simulation (DAViS) has exceeded the old world record of 50 trillion jobs by an additional 12.8 trillion new, previously unknown jobs. The last ten known digits of Pi are now: 7817924264.
The calculation of the new Pi-digit world record by the DAViS team of the University of Applied Sciences in Graubünden took 108 days and 9 hours. It is therefore almost twice as fast as the record that Google set in its cloud in 2019, and around 3.5 times as fast as the last world record from 2020. The record team from Graubünden is extremely satisfied with that Calculation process. “We wanted to achieve several goals with the record attempt,” says Prof. Dr. Heiko Rölke, head of DAViS. «In the course of preparing and performing the calculations, we were able to build up a lot of know-how and optimize our processes. This is now of particular benefit to our research partners, with whom we jointly carry out computationally intensive projects in data analysis and simulation. ” Thomas Keller, entrusted with the execution of the calculations as project manager, adds: “The calculation showed us that we are prepared for data and computing power-intensive use in research and development. The calculation also made us aware of weak points in the infrastructure, such as insufficient back-up capacities. “
The knowledge of the DAViS team, as demonstrated by the world record, as well as the hardware used are in demand in areas of application such as RNA analyzes, flow simulations and text analyzes. The University of Applied Sciences Graubünden team supports project partners in these and other areas. In addition, starting this autumn semester, students in the Computational and Data Science Bachelor’s degree, which is unique in Switzerland , will be prepared for the challenges of implementing computationally intensive projects in different areas of application. According to the achieved calculation of 62.8 trillion digits, the DAViS team had the achievement registered for entry in the Guinness Book of World Records. The number itself should then be made publicly available.”