HTP Graphics

Numerical Algorithms Group (NAG) High performance computing group looks to Manchester for heart of its team 46 CORPORATE PARTNERSHIP The Numerical Algorithms Group (NAG) delivers numerical computing software and high performance computing (HPC) services. It is headquartered in Oxford and has offices in Manchester, Lisle, Illinois, USA, and Tokyo. Its oldest product is the NAG Library, which holds over 1,700 routines for the solution of mathematical and statistical problems. The company currently has a turnover of £8m. NAG was founded in 1970 as a multi-university collaboration to produce a software package for ICL 1906A/S machines which would avoid people having to write their own algorithms for commonly used routines. Originally called the Nottingham Algorithms Group, NAG was founded by Manchester, Oxford, Nottingham, Leeds and Birmingham Universities, and the Atlas Computer Centre (a pre-existing network of academic experts in computing) through which each participant had received a new ICL 1906 machine. NAG was originally physically located in Nottingham, while each university in the group contributed according to its own specialisations. The University's role was to be 'solvers of differential equations'. In 1973 NAG became a limited company, changed its name and re-located to Oxford because of lack of institutional support at Nottingham for what had been a 'bottom-up' entrepreneurial activity. NAG always maintained its links with Manchester because of the University's strengths in numerical analysis and today probably has more formal and informal collaborations with the University than at any time in its history. The proximity and personal relationships formed over time strengthen these bonds. A key member of staff in the Manchester office collaborates closely with his former PhD supervisor in the University, and collaborations have also developed with the Manchester Business School. "There's something about the place – I came here as a student and didn't want to leave."

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