The new Flemish TIER-1 supercomputer has been inaugurated during an event at the Zellik Research Park on Thursday evening. The supercomputer that has been named Sofia is managed by Brussels’ Dutch-Medium Free University (VUB) Sofia is the most powerful computer in Flanders.
A TIER-1 supercomputer is installed every six years at a different university. After Ghent University’s (UGent) previous model, named Hortense, the Brussels university VUB is now responsible for hosting the new system, Sofia. Due to the rapid pace of technological advance each new supercomputer is an ever more advance machine.
The main technological advance with Sofia’s lies in its increased capacity for artificial intelligence applications. According to the VUB, the system offers the highest computing power in Flanders and can be used across all scientific disciplines. Possible applications for Sofia include training climate models, simulating chemical reactions and developing AI tools for medical research.
The supercomputer can be used by both academia and industry, and the VUB aims for it to be in use at least 80% of the time. It is one of two TIER-1 systems in Belgium. The other TIER-1 system is located in Charleroi. Each university also operates a TIER-2 computer with lower computing capacity.
"An undisputed milestone"
The Flemish Government has invested 8.6 million euro in the project. Speaking at Thursday evening’s inauguration, the Flemish Prime Minister Matthias Diependaele (nationalist) said that "Researchers today need the very best. Sofia is an undisputed milestone for science and innovation."
Although designed to minimise energy use, the machine remains highly energy intensive. It requires water cooling, as traditional air cooling is no longer sufficient, in order to prevent its cables from overheating and melting.
Sofia is part of the Flemish Supercomputer Centre (VSC) and is housed at the Nexus Data Centre in Zellik in Flemish Brabant.