CASE STUDY
Milwaukee School of Engineering Accelerates Mosquito Genomics Research 10x with Ampere® Altra®
Milwaukee School of Engineering Accelerates Mosquito Genomics Research 10x with Ampere® Altra®
04 June 2025
04 June 2025
INTRODUCTION
Imagine halting the spread of malaria and dengue by understanding mosquito DNA. That's the groundbreaking mission of Milwaukee School of Engineering Accelerates Mosquito Genomics 10x (MSOE). But processing massive genomic datasets was a bottleneck, delaying critical discoveries. Upgrading to the Systems76 Thelio Astra, powered by the Ampere® Altra® processor, with its 128 cores and 512 GB of RAM, dramatically accelerated their research, enabling faster analysis, profound insights, and a quicker path to life‑saving gene drive strategies.
COMPANY DESCRIPTION
MSOE is a nationally ranked polytechnic university that combines rigorous academics with applied learning in engineering, AI, and computer science. Its undergraduate curriculum requires six AI/ML courses, and it offers a specialized Master’s in Machine Learning. MSOE supports advanced research in bioinformatics, machine learning, and public health, bridging instruction with scientific impact. As a leader in hands‑on innovation, it equips students with the tools, infrastructure, and mentorship to produce research with humanitarian and industry applications.
Challenge
MSOE's mosquito DNA research, involving thousands of samples, generated massive, memory‑intensive genomic datasets. Their previous system (24 cores, 128 GB RAM) proved insufficient for their "weak scaling" problem set, hindering analysis. High CPU core counts and substantial memory were crucial, but budget, noise, and cooling constraints demanded a cost‑effective, high‑performance solution without GPU dependence.
Solution
The MSOE lab deployed a Systems76 Thelio Astra workstation, powered by the Ampere Altra processor. Boasting 128 cores and 512 GB of RAM, it efficiently handled large genomic datasets and parallelized analyses. Running Ubuntu Linux 24.04, it offered native support for bioinformatics tools, ensuring seamless, stable integration and a compact, quiet, scalable research platform.
Benefits
The new workstation delivered a 10x performance boost, reducing analysis time from months to weeks. Cost savings were substantial, providing more cores and memory at one‑third the price of legacy alternatives. This turnkey solution offered independent research infrastructure, freed the lab from shared queues, and empowered 18 undergraduate students with hands‑on, high‑performance computing experience.
“The Ampere-powered Thelio Astra eliminated bottlenecks, providing the cores, memory, and reliability for high-throughput genomic analysis—seamlessly integrating with Linux. A true game changer.”
— RJ Nowling, Ph.D, Associate Professor,
Computer Science and Software Engineering,
MSOE
“Thelio Astra delivers enterprise-class computing in a workstation—perfect for labs needing high throughput without sacrificing space, noise, or usability.”
— Sam Mondlick, VP of Sales, System76
References
1. Feedback based on qualitative assessments provided by MSOE during technical evaluation discussions with Ampere. Information reflects MSOE’s own observations and conclusions regarding the limitations of legacy CPU architecture in the context of their business. Assessment confirmed by MSOE as of April 2025.
About Ampere
Ampere is a semiconductor design company for a new era, leading the future of computing with an innovative approach to CPU design focused on high-performance, energy efficient AI compute. As a pioneer in the new frontier of energy efficient high-performance computing, Ampere is part of the Softbank Group of companies driving sustainable computing for AI, Cloud, and edge applications.
See our solutions for a variety of demanding workloads: amperecomputing.com/solutions
Visit our Developer Center: amperecomputing.com/developers
Disclaimer
All data and information contained in Disclaimer: All data and information contained in or disclosed by this document are for informational purposes only and are subject to change. This document may contain technical inaccuracies, omissions and typographical errors, and Ampere is under no obligation to update or correct this information. Ampere makes no representations or warranties of any kind, including express or implied guarantees of noninfringement, merchantability, or fitness for a particular purpose, and assumes no liability of any kind. All information is provided “AS IS.” This document is not an offer or a binding commitment by Ampere.
This document is not to be used, copied, or reproduced in its entirety, or presented to others without the express written permission of Ampere®.
Ampere Computing LLC
4655 Great America Parkway Suite 601
Santa Clara, CA 95054
