Bringing Parallel Computing to the Forefront in University Engineering Education

Lexington, Mass., August 12, 2013– Advanced semiconductor and computer manufacturer Adapteva today introduced its Parallella University Program (PUP) for academic institutions that conduct leading parallel programing research and/or education. The program is designed so universities can access inexpensive and open parallel computing hardware. Institutions participating in the PUP program will receive free hardware and developmental software specifically focused on parallel computing. The first offering via the PUP program will be the Parallella-16 computer, Adapteva’s breakthrough credit-card sized multicore processing platform.

To kick off the program, Adapteva is donating one Parallella-16 platform for each 100 units sold via the Adapteva online store. Universities eligible for the PUP must be actively involved in parallel computing research and education.

The Parallella platform, equipped with Adapteva’s innovative energy-efficient Epiphany multicore processor and the Xilinx Zynq®-7000 All Programmable SoCs that includes a dual-core ARM A9 CPU. The whole board is the size of a credit card, consumes less than 5 Watts under typical workloads and has a $99 entry level price point. Adapteva’s Parallella was launched in a successful Kickstarter campaign in late 2012 and recently opened orders for the general public.

“The present and future of computing is clearly parallel but the world is still struggling with the transition from the serial computing model that has served it well for decades,” said Andreas Olofsson, CEO of Adapteva. “We created the Parallella platform to help make the world’s first open and affordable platform for the development of massively parallel programs. With the Parallella University Program we want to do our part to help accelerate the transition to parallel computing.”

Adapteva invites other companies dedicated to advancing education and research in the area of parallel computing to join the Parallella University Program and match Adapteva’s donation.

To sign up for the PUP program, a university representative can apply at http://www.parallella.org/pup. Program acceptance will be evaluated based on the following criteria:

• Potential impact of proposed research or educational program
• Track record within the area of parallel computing
• Level of openness in journal and source code publication

PUP will seek to maximize diversity in terms of research areas and geographical representation. Re-application will be required for each calendar year of the program. Distribution of Parallella boards will be made at equal rates to all schools accepted.

To date, Adapteva has collaborated with researchers at Boston University, Northeastern University, Halmstad University, and MIT, and has received hardware requests from more than 100 universities worldwide following the company’s Kickstarter program.

Adapteva is in process of delivering Parallella boards to Kickstarter backers, and general availability orders made before August 31 will be fulfilled in October. Prior to acceptance in the PUP Program, students or universities wishing to purchase the Parallella directly can also buy the $99 platform at https://www.adapteva.com.

About Adapteva
Adapteva, Inc. is a privately held chip and computer manufacturer based in Lexington, Massachusetts that develops and builds the most energy-efficient microprocessor chips and single board computers in the world. Adapteva’s ground breaking Epiphany chip products and Parallella credit-card sized computers will disrupt a wide range of end markets from compact mobile devices to next generation supercomputers. For more information on the company visit: https://www.adapteva.com or the Parallella Community site at http://www.parallella.org.