COMPUTING & IT RESOURCES
sometimes had to be restarted. The new Higgs cluster will radically speed up the lab’s processing of data, meaning that researchers can finally fully utilise the cutting-edge DNA sequencing equipment in the lab to its full potential.
Simon Thompson, Director, HPC Solutions at Lenovo said, “This HPC system will be vital to driving the innovative research which Northumbria University is known for. We’re delighted to be partnering with Northumbria University to help them deliver sustainable supercomputing and to support vital climate change research. The Higgs cluster is built to deal with large scientific datasets at high speed and will drive discoveries in everything from physics to biotechnology.” The Higgs cluster is equipped for many different kinds of research, with general-purpose HPC nodes, high-memory HPC nodes and graphics processing units (GPUs) for AI, based on Lenovo server and storage technology. It will be upgraded so that it can continue to drive research breakthroughs over its five-year lifecycle. The Higgs cluster will be used by research projects across the university, such as by the Solar and Space Physics research group which aims to understand space weather such as solar flares and how to predict them. This will enable nations to develop new satellites and maintain the existing fleets which are vital to communications around the world. With its ability to deal with large datasets at high speed, the Higgs cluster will also power cutting-edge research into how microbes could help to reduce carbon emissions and recycle waste products. High-performance computing systems such as the Higgs cluster are increasingly important to university research, says Professor Louise Bracken, Pro Vice-Chancellor at Northumbria University.
Looking forward with HPC
Demand for high-performance computing is growing rapidly in the education sector, growing 20% year on year for the past five years, according to a report by Global Market Insights. With the use of AI and machine learning growing in importance for data analysis, simulation and dealing with large data sets, this demand is set to keep on growing with HPC accelerating scientific research and enabling large-scale simulations in everything from weather prediction to cancer research to large-scale genome sequencing of populations. A key consideration for scientific institutions going forward will be how to use HPC and AI sustainably. With components such as GPUs pushing up the energy density of data centres, innovative cooling systems such as warm water cooling will grow in importance.
Lenovo’s Neptune cooling solution uses warm water to cool most HPC components directly, without air-moving devices inside servers, making for a 40% reduction in power consumption and reducing the need for air conditioning systems. Donostia International Physics Center in Spain has adopted Neptune warm water cooling for its new Hyperion supercomputer which will research everything from new quantum technologies to how galaxies form. Going forward, such innovations will allow the education sector to responsibly maximise the potential of AI and HPC.
Simulating the future
Large-scale simulations and large datasets will be vital to solving many of the largest problems facing humankind, from creating new sustainable materials to understanding the melting of glaciers. For research institutions, HPC will be a vital part of this, and ensuring researchers have ready access to cutting-edge equipment will grow in importance in the coming years. With many researchers grappling with issues and datasets related to climate change, it’s also hugely important that institutions engage with HPC in a sustainable way, using emerging technologies to ensure researchers can harness computing power without costing the Earth.
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www.education-today.co.uk
April 2025
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