50+ researchers, stellar panels, quantum breakthroughs, TV features & major announcements – explore our highlights from August and see what's coming next...
Powering Discovery, Sharing Success, and Building Community
Dear Name,
Welcome to Pawsey’s September Newsletter.
August was full of remarkable moments at Pawsey. We kicked off with the launch of National Science Week in Western Australia, hosted at Pawsey and opened by The Hon Stephen Dawson MLC, Minister for Science. The event brought together science communicators and leaders from across the state for a stellar panel featuring Pascal Elahi, Professor Jingbo Wang, and Kat Ross, moderated by our CEO Mark Stickells.
The month also saw our CEO appointed to WA’s new Science and Technology Council, an opportunity to have a role in shaping the state’s research and innovation landscape. We hosted our second Visualisation Conference, connecting over 50 researchers, experts, and innovators to explore how data becomes insight.
Mark Stickells also published an opinion piece on LinkedIn titled Artificial Intelligence (AI): National Competitiveness, Skills and Economic Security. In this article, he explores the critical role AI will play in Australia’s economic resilience and outlines the importance of investing not only in technology but also in people and skills.
We launched our Instagram account to share engaging content about projects enabled by Setonix, explainer videos on supercomputing, and stories of the people behind the machines – follow us to stay inspired! We also hosted an AlphaFold workshop, welcomed our new COO Shaun Griffin and Communications Advisor Gerard Gommeaux-Ward, and were delighted to show Rhiannon Shine, from ABC 730, around Pawsey and Setonix.
To close the month, Pawsey was featured on ABC 7.30 in a story about the environmental costs of AI. From our innovative geothermal system keeping Setonix green to researchers developing climate-resilient crops, advancing health innovations and our Quantum team’s iAward merit for the QBit Bridge, it has been a month of impactful science and collaboration.
Dive into this month’s newsletter to get across all our upcoming events – and discover how Pawsey is reshaping the pace at which we explore the universe with BLINK.
Call for Partner Allocation Scheme opens
The Pawsey Partner Scheme call is open and closes on October 6, 2025 (5 pm AWST). This annual opportunity provides significant compute time allocations on Setonix CPU and GPU resources for meritorious projects led by researchers from CSIRO, Curtin University, and the University of Western Australia, as well as Western Australian Government agencies.
Annual Review Celebrating 25 Years of Scientific Achievement is now available
This year’s report marks 25 years of Pawsey, capturing the voices and stories of researchers, staff, and partners who have shaped our journey from supporting a handful of projects to enabling discoveries across Australia.
More than just numbers, this interactive format invites you to explore milestones, hear personal reflections, and glimpse how we are preparing for the next 25 years at the forefront of supercomputing, AI, and quantum technologies.
Pawsey Wins National Recognition for Quantum Computing Innovation
Team Pawsey was awarded a Merit Recipient honour at the 2025 National iAwards Gala last Thursday for our Quantum QBit Bridge project.
This hybrid quantum-classical workflow technology is another example of Australia's leadership in practical quantum computing integration, seamlessly combining GPU, CPU, and quantum processing.
Pawsey is inviting expressions of interest for new members of the Partner Merit Allocation Committee, the expert panel that evaluates and allocates Setonix supercomputing resources to meritorious research projects.
We are particularly seeking researchers who have expertise in data science, machine learning, bioinformatics, computational fluid dynamics, quantum computing, astrophysics, and materials science; however, applications from other domains are also welcome.
The National Computational Merit Allocation Scheme (NCMAS) is inviting applications for new members of its Scientific Advisory Committee for the 2025–2028 term. The committee plays a vital role in ensuring equitable, merit-based access to Australia’s national computational facilities.
Priority expertise areas include fluid mechanics, astronomical sciences, climate change science, condensed matter physics, and theoretical chemistry, though applications from researchers across all computationally intensive disciplines are welcome.
NCMAS places a strong emphasis on diversity and particularly encourages applications from under-represented groups. Submissions close on September 6.
Hybrid | Pawsey Supercomputing Research Centre or online
Join Our World Teacher's Day Open Day
Calling all educators, lecturers, and HPC champions.
Join Pawsey's exclusive Open Day celebrating World Teacher's Day. Connect with fellow educators, discover cutting-edge curriculum resources, and get behind-the-scenes tours of our Setonix supercomputer.
Available in-person (limited to 50) or online via Teams. Whether you're already teaching HPC concepts or curious about integrating supercomputing into your curriculum, this Open Day is designed for you.
This is the first in a new series of Pawsey Open Days, each aligned with an international occasion and tailored to different groups:
World Quantum Day: 14 April 2026 – All audiences (school holidays)
International Day of Friendship: 30 July 2026 – Secondary school students (Term 3 period)
National Science Week: 20 August 2026 – Primary and secondary school students (Term 3 period)
More chances to connect with the Pawsey team and discover HPC
Research Software Engineering Conference New Zealand
23-24 September – Online
Registrations are now open, and the first keynote speaker announced is Dr Emily Kahl, a supercomputing applications specialist at the Pawsey Supercomputing Research Centre.
BLINK: GPU Innovation Unlocks Low-Frequency Fast Radio Burst Searches
Australian researchers at Pawsey Supercomputing Research Centre, Curtin University, and the SKA Observatory have developed BLINK (Breakthrough Low-latency Imaging with Next-generation Kernels), a cutting-edge software pipeline that accelerates low-frequency space signal detection using the Murchison Widefield Array (MWA) telescope and the Setonix supercomputer.
BLINK harnesses the power of GPUs on Setonix to process MWA data around 3,700 times faster, and with a much higher energy efficiency.
The most significant advancement lies in BLINK’s real-time processing potential. Currently, 87% of processing time is spent writing image files to disk – a step that is not needed if the images are searched while they are still in memory. That means another huge speedup could be achieved, making real-time FRB searches with telescopes like the MWA possible.
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