NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) is working alongside UK researchers to help develop a new supercomputer to advance clean energy solutions and develop medical treatments.
The supercomputer called Isambard 3, will use 384 of Nvidia’s central processing units (CPU) and is expected to be one of Europe’s most energy-efficient systems.
The US tech company, which is known for being the top producer of graphic processing units (GPU), started producing its own CPU chip called ‘Grace’ this year, using technology from SoftBank-owned Arm Ltd.
The project is being led by the UK’s GW4 Alliance, a group of researchers from the universities of Bristol, Bath, Cardiff, and Exeter.
The supercomputer will be based at the Bristol & Bath Science Park and with help tp build it from Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co (NYSE:HPE).
Some of the uses planned for Isambard 3 include:
- Modelling complex structures such as windfarms and fusion reactors
- Developing a better understanding of Parkinson’s disease
- Finding new treatments for osteoporosis and COVID-19
- Supporting research into AI and machine learning
- Growing new user communities in areas like life sciences, astrophysics, and biotech
Isambard 3 is expected to be six times as efficient compared to its predecessor, Isambard 2, with hopes it will rival the top 50 fastest computer systems in the world.
“From climate change to medicine, supercomputing is already enabling academic and industry leaders to take on some of the world’s biggest challenges,” said Mohamed Awad from Arm.
The UK Research and Innovation government department revealed on Monday it invested £10mln into the supercomputer project.
Isambard 3 is expected to be installed later in 2023 before being fit for use in spring 2024.