Building work on the site to house the supercomputer – set to be the UK’s most powerful – began in earnest earlier this year.
Construction milestone
A structural beam that completes the frame of the building was signed by Minister Narayan, EPCC Director Professor Mark Parsons, members of the build team, and University of Edinburgh Provost, Professor Kim Graham, to commemorate a major construction milestone.
The work to build UK’s Next National Supercomputer has been funded by UK Government through UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) and is delivered as a partnership between UKRI and the University of Edinburgh’s EPCC, the UK’s first National Supercomputing Centre.
Discoveries
It is set to empower world-changing discoveries in fields including sustainable aircraft engineering, extreme weather events and drug discovery.
Supercomputing allows researchers to carry out modelling that is simply unfeasible or too costly to do in the real-world, such as simulating heart blood flow, predicting heatwaves, modelling flood defences, and understanding volcanic eruptions – helping to accelerate scientific discovery, improve public services, and enhance the UK's resilience to future challenges.
Antimicrobial resistance
During his visit to Edinburgh, the Minister met with the School of Chemistry’s Dr Antonia Mey, who explained the ways that supercomputing helps researchers better understand antibiotic resistance, one of the world’s most pressing medical challenges.
The Minster also toured labs at BioQuarter, speaking with University staff including Professor of Health Informatics and Data Science and Chief Academic Officer of Usher Institute, Julie Jacko, and Vice-Principal and Head of the College of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine, Professor David Argyle.
