Catalyst: The Swiss Army Knife for Smarter Simulations

As simulations across scientific disciplines grow in complexity, their demand for computational resources increases dramatically. Traditional post-processing pipelines struggle to keep up and often become inefficient. To address this, there is a growing need to incorporate state-of-the-art analysis and visualization tools directly into simulation platforms.

Catalyst is a flexible and high-performance platform that integrates seamlessly into simulation workflows. It enables in situ analysis and visualization, eliminating the need to store and process massive datasets after simulations complete. Through Catalyst, users gain full access to ParaView’s powerful capabilities directly within their simulations. It also supports data movement technologies like ADIOS, making it adaptable to a variety of HPC environments.

For over a decade, Catalyst has led the shift toward in situ simulation data processing. This evolution has become even more critical as the I/O bottleneck continues to challenge modern HPC workflows. At Kitware, we are expanding what Catalyst can do—moving beyond visualization to support advanced data handling, interactive analysis, and AI-powered coprocessing.

In this talk, we will showcase how Catalyst acts as a simulation Swiss Army Knife. You’ll see how it can streamline your workflows, enhance insight, and keep pace with the demands of next-generation computing.

During this webinar, Kitware’s experts will:

1. Discuss the I/O bottleneck in HPC, and how Catalyst in situ analysis and visualization is tackling the challenge.
   
2. Demonstrate the bespoke simulation analysis solutions that are possible with Catalyst.
3. Showcase how to create custom Catalyst pipelines in the ParaView visualization platform without writing a single line of code.
   
4. Explain the benefits of open source technology to drive innovation and reduce cost.