A high-performance computer that can tackle complex calculations to solve major challenges in science and engineering, including drug development, energy systems and space technologies research, has been installed at the University of Strathclyde, UK.
The computer is at the core of a new £1.6 million regional Supercomputing Centre, funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), which will help academics further their research and support business and industry through the next generation of product design and development.
Professor David Littlejohn, associate deputy principal at the University of Strathclyde, said: 'The new centre will make a step-change in high-performance computing provision for Scotland, helping researchers to work with industrial colleagues from around the world to develop and test innovative new products and technologies.
'Our plans for the centre have received overwhelming support from industry, and we are delighted that the EPSRC has chosen to invest in our infrastructure and the work of our internationally leading scientists and engineers.'
The advanced computer is known as ARCHIE (Academic and Research Computer Hosting Industry and Enterprise), and was the result of a successful funding bid submitted by scientists Professor Littlejohn, Professor Maxim Federov and Dr Richard Martin, and engineers Professor Jason Reese and Dr Paul Mulheran.
The funding will enable multidisciplinary researchers at the Universities of Strathclyde, Glasgow, Glasgow Caledonian, Stirling and the University of the West of Scotland to access the Supercomputing Centre and link up with other supercomputing centres around the world.
They will work with public and private sector partners in a wide range of research areas, including the purification of seawater, renewable energy, the next generation of mobile communications and improved air transport systems.
