Sequoia (left) or petascale Blue Gene/Q constructed by IBM for organisations like the US National Nuclear Security Administration, and the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. Its 20 petaflops makes Sequoia almost twice as fast as the current 10.51 petaflops K computer and equal to the intended performance of Cray's Titan.

The computers can deliver complex computer simulations across a range of scientific disciplines and are funded by four of the UK Research Councils, EPSRC, STFC, NERC and BBSRC.  Increased computing capacity and performance will help UK researchers’ work in forecasting impacts of climate change, fundamental structures of matter, fluctuations in ocean currents, projecting spread of epidemics, designing new materials and developing new medicinal drugs as well as deciphering the structure and evolution of the universe. 
 
Launching the new phases at a jointly hosted event by University of Edinburgh andUKResearch Councils, Minister for Universities and Science, David Willetts (right) said: “E-infrastructure is fundamental to modern research and development. It helps our world-leading science base achieve breakthroughs across a range of important disciplines and helps industry design and manufacture new products.

Professor Sir Timothy O'Shea, (left) Principal of the University of Edinburgh, said: " HECToR and BlueGene/Q will each play a significant role in facilitating ground-breaking research across many areas of science, with tremendous benefits for society. We look forward to working with our partner organisations in delivering this computing capability and to seeing the contribution it will make."

 
Professor John Womersley, (left) CEO for the STFC said: “Supercomputers are the essential, behind-the-scenes tools that enable modern science.  Whether you are analysing climate data from a satellite, designing a new medicine or looking for the Higgs boson, access to high performance computers is vital.”

 

HECTOR WIN A LADY'S FAVOUR
The winner of a schools art competition to design a pictorial representation of the work carried out by HECToR was also announced.

 The winning picture has been placed on the front panels of HECToR and was designed by16-year-old Lily Johnson (right), an inspired hand at ingenious design from Hethersett Old Hall School, Nr Norwich, who entered HECToR design competition at the suggestion of her chemistry teacher, Miss Mann.

"After reading about the capabilities of the supercomputer I wanted to represent these in my design. The rain, cloud and sun represent mapping weather patterns and climate change, the volcano the prediction of natural disasters, the syringe and tablets the computer’s application in medical advances, the leaf the advancing of understanding complex biological systems and the aeroplane the computer’s role in improving engineering of aircraft.
 
“I put these around a globe as the work of the computer has global benefits. All the pictures are coloured in binary code to show how the technology links them all together.
 
“I am very honoured that my design has been chosen for the computer, as its work will be influential in so many fields.”