Centre for High Performance Computing 2025 National Conference

from Sunday, 30 November 2025 (08:00) to Wednesday, 3 December 2025 (22:20)
Century City Convention Centre

        : Sessions
    /     : Talks
        : Breaks
30 Nov 2025
1 Dec 2025
2 Dec 2025
3 Dec 2025
AM
08:00 --- Registration ---
09:00
SADC Cyber-Infrastructure Meeting (until 10:30) (1/1-7 - Room 7)
09:00
Workshop (until 10:30) (1/1-8+9 - Room 8+9)
10:30 --- Break ---
11:00
SADC Cyber-Infrastructure Meeting (until 12:30) (1/1-7 - Room 7)
11:00
Workshop (until 12:30) ()
08:00 --- Registration ---
09:00
Keynote - Chair: Mr Mervyn Christoffels (CHPC) (until 10:30) (1/0-AB - Hall A+B)
09:00 Welcome - Chair: Mr Mervyn Christoffels (CHPC)   (1/0-AB - Hall A+B)
09:05 DSI Welcome - Mr Charles Mokonoto (Department of Science and Technology)   (1/0-AB - Hall A+B)
09:15 CSIR Welcome - Dr Lulama Wakaba   (1/0-AB - Hall A+B)
09:25 NICIS Welcome - Dr Happy Sithole (CHPC)   (1/0-AB - Hall A+B)
09:45 Cyberinfrastructure Collaboration: Towards Accelerated Impact - The Role of Being a Good Ancestor - Mr Warren Hero*   (1/0-AB - Hall A+B)
10:30 --- Refreshment Break ---
11:00
HPC Applications (until 12:30) (1/1-11 - Room 11)
11:00 Entangled Worlds: Engineering, Physics, Applied Mathematics, and the Future of High-Performance Computing. - Prof. Muaaz Bhamjee (University of Johannesburg)   (1/1-11 - Room 11)
11:20 Is it Time to Switch to Machine Learnt Potentials? - Prof. Scott Woodley (University College London)   (1/1-11 - Room 11)
11:40 Active-learning driven chemical space exploration and relative binding affinity estimation of SARS-CoV-2 PLpro inhibitors using FEP+ - Dr Njabulo Gumede (Walter Sisulu University)   (1/1-11 - Room 11)
12:00 Reference Genome Assembly, Pangenome Construction, and Population Analysis of the Spotted Hyena (Crocuta Crocuta) from the Kruger National Park - Dr Ansia van Coller (South African Medical Research Council)   (1/1-11 - Room 11)
12:20 Q&A - Q&A   (1/1-11 - Room 11)
11:00
HPC Technology (until 12:30) (1/1-8+9 - Room 8+9)
11:00
ISSA (until 12:30) (1/1-10 - Room 10)
11:00
Special (until 12:30) (1/1-7 - Room 7)
08:00 --- Registration ---
09:00
Keynote (until 10:30) (1/0-AB - Hall A+B)
10:30 --- Break ---
11:00
HPC Applications (until 12:30) (1/1-11 - Room 11)
11:00 TBC - Prof. Malik Maaza (University of South Africa & iThemba LABS/National Research Foundation of South Africa)   (1/1-11 - Room 11)
11:20 VCo2O4 (001) surface properties in zinc-air batteries - Prof. Khomotso Maenetja (Materials Modelling Centre)   (1/1-11 - Room 11)
11:40 A use case for integration of Earth Observations and AI in NWP modelling - Ms Patience Tlangelani Mulovhedzi (Council for Scientific and Industrial Research)   (1/1-11 - Room 11)
12:00 Uncertainty Quantification in Patient-Specific Cardiovascular CFD: A Global Sensitivity Study on the Lengau Cluster - Vincent Punabantu (University of Cape Town)   (1/1-11 - Room 11)
12:20 Q & A - Q & A   (1/1-11 - Room 11)
08:00 --- Registration ---
09:00
Keynote (until 10:30) (1/0-AB - Hall A+B)
09:00 Intel AI in Action at the 2024 Olympics: Deployments and Benefits for your Business - Dr Jean-Laurent Philippe* (Intel)   (1/0-AB - Hall A+B)
09:45 Tackling the Challenges of Reproducibility and Data Sharing in Computational Science - Prof. Hakizumwami Birali Runesha* (University of Chicago)   (1/0-AB - Hall A+B)
10:30 --- Break ---
11:00
HPC Applications (until 12:30) (1/1-11 - Room 11)
11:00 TBC - Dr David Khoza (Integrated Geoscience Solutions)   (1/1-11 - Room 11)
11:20 TBC - Dr Nicolette Chang (CSIR)   (1/1-11 - Room 11)
11:40 Tailoring structural design of spinel LiMn2O4 cathode material through high entropy doping - Prof. Raesibe Sylvia Ledwaba (University of Limpopo)   (1/1-11 - Room 11)
12:00 Integrating High-Performance Computing and Deep Learning for Big Data-Driven Cyberinfrastructure: A Framework for Scalable AI Research in African Research Institutions - Dr Olalekan Samuel Ogunleye (University of Mpumalanga)   (1/1-11 - Room 11)
12:20 Q & A - Q & A   (1/1-11 - Room 11)
PM
12:30 --- Lunch ---
13:30
SADC Cyber-Infrastructure Meeting (until 15:00) (1/1-7 - Room 7)
13:30
Workshop (until 15:00) ()
15:00 --- Break ---
15:30
SADC Cyber-Infrastructure Meeting (until 17:00) (1/1-7 - Room 7)
15:30
Workshop (until 17:00) ()
17:00 --- Intermission ---
12:30 --- Lunch ---
13:30
HPC Applications (until 15:20) (1/1-11 - Room 11)
13:30 TBC - Prof. Catharine Esterhuysen (Department of Chemistry and Poymer Science, University of Stellenbosch)   (1/1-11 - Room 11)
13:50 CCAM Heavy Rainfall Simulations: Sensitivity to Initialization Datasets - Mr Tshifhiwa Rambuwani (South African Weather Service)   (1/1-11 - Room 11)
14:10 Recommendations for Running Bioinformatics Applications on CHPC - Ms Thandeka Mavundla (University of Cape Town)   (1/1-11 - Room 11)
14:30 Holes, Hops and Haven Ratios—Molecular Dynamics of Ion Transport and Transference in MFSI/[C₄C₁pyr][FSI] electrolytes (M = Li, Na, K) - Dr Gerhard Venter (University of Cape Town)   (1/1-11 - Room 11)
14:50 Q&A - Q&A   (1/1-11 - Room 11)
13:30
HPC Technology (until 15:00) (1/1-8+9 - Room 8+9)
13:30
ISSA (until 15:00) (1/1-10 - Room 10)
13:30
Special (until 15:00) (1/1-7 - Room 7)
15:00 --- Break ---
15:30
Keynote - Facilitator: Mr Dan Olds (OrionX) (until 17:00) (1/0-AB - Hall A+B)
15:30 A Brief Tour of Your Data Center Future - Mr Dan Olds* (Olds Research)   (1/0-AB - Hall A+B)
15:50 Industry Inquisition - Mr Dan Olds (Olds Research)   (1/0-AB - Hall A+B)
17:00
Keynote - Chair: Dr Happy Sithole (CHPC) (until 17:45) (1/0-AB - Hall A+B)
17:00 Challenges and Opportunities of HPC in the age of AI - Dr Utz-Uwe Haus* (HPE HPC/AI EMEA Research Lab (ERL))   (1/0-AB - Hall A+B)
17:45 --- Intermission ---
18:00 --- Conference Dinner ---
12:30 --- Lunch ---
13:30
HPC Applications (until 15:00) (1/1-11 - Room 11)
13:30 From Punch Cards to AI-Powered HPC: A 40-Year Journey in Computational Chemistry Infrastructure - Prof. Krishna Govender (University of Johannesburg) Hendrick Kruger (UKZN)   (1/1-11 - Room 11)
13:50 The African Bioinformatics Institute: Building Data Infrastructure for Genomics in Africa - Prof. Nicola Mulder (University of Cape Town)   (1/1-11 - Room 11)
14:10 Exploring new ways to decarbonize metal production with multiphysics modelling and high-performance computing - Dr Quinn Reynolds (Mintek)   (1/1-11 - Room 11)
14:30 From Idea to Impact: Scalable AI Workflows with MATLAB & HPC - Bridging AI Challenges with Scalable, Reliable, and Explainable Solutions - Dr Marco Rossi (MathWorks Academia Team)   (1/1-11 - Room 11)
14:50 Q & A - Q & A   (1/1-11 - Room 11)
15:00 --- Break ---
15:30
HPC Applications (until 17:00) (1/1-11 - Room 11)
15:30 CHPC Users BoF - Dr Werner Janse Van Rensburg (CHPC)   (1/1-11 - Room 11)
17:00 --- Intermission ---
17:15
Poster (until 19:15) (1/0-0 - Foyer)
12:30 --- Lunch ---
13:30
HPC Applications (until 15:00) (1/1-11 - Room 11)
13:30 Investigations of Selected Properties of Material Properties under Dynamical High Pressure and Temperature - Prof. George Amolo   (1/1-11 - Room 11)
13:50 ChemShell: defects in energy materials by hybrid QM/MM approach - Dr Alexey A. Sokol (University College London)   (1/1-11 - Room 11)
14:10 The Dynamic Control of Head Stabilisation in Cheetahs: A Computer Vision and Optimisation Approach - Ms Kamryn Norton (African Robotics Unit, University of Cape Town)   (1/1-11 - Room 11)
14:30 TBC - Dr Markus Erwee   (1/1-11 - Room 11)
14:50 Q & A - Q & A   (1/1-11 - Room 11)
15:00 --- Break ---
15:30
HPC Applications (until 17:00) (1/1-11 - Room 11)
17:00 --- Canapes & Cocktails Networking Session ---
18:30
Keynote - Chair: Dr Happy Sithole (CHPC) (until 19:15) (1/0-AB - Hall A+B)
18:30 The Third Pillar of HPC - Prof. Thomas Sterling* (TACC)   (1/0-AB - Hall A+B)
19:15 --- Awards ---