The Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) has announced the launch of a powerful new supercomputer designed to advance innovation in artificial intelligence (AI) and advanced computing for UK industries. The system, named after Mary Coombs, the UK’s first female commercial programmer, is located within the STFC’s new £30 million Supercomputing Centre at its Daresbury Laboratory.
The Hartree Centre, located at STFC’s Daresbury Laboratory at Sci-Tech Daresbury in the Liverpool City Region, is the UK’s only supercomputing centre dedicated to working with industry to advance digital innovation. This new supercomputer, which delivers ten times the performance of its predecessor, Scafell Pike, will give businesses and public sector organisations of all sizes access to world-class computing power and expertise.
With a processing power of 24.41 petaflops, the Mary Coombs supercomputer can perform 24.41 quadrillion floating-point calculations per second, making it one of the most powerful supercomputers in the UK. This powerful new system will allow businesses to analyze vast datasets more quickly, turning cutting-edge research into real-world solutions faster, more efficiently and at greater scale, ultimately boosting productivity and growth across the UK economy.
Professor Kate Royse, Director of the STFC Hartree Centre, stated, “Here at the Hartree Centre, our new Mary Coombs supercomputer can provide UK industry with the computing power, expertise, and skills needed to turn ambitious ideas into real-world solutions. From drug discovery to climate research, businesses can process vast and complex datasets faster and more efficiently than ever before, without needing in-house supercomputing or AI expertise.”
The new supercomputer, which is designed for AI workloads and advanced visualization, marks a major step forward in the Hartree Centre’s computing capabilities. Steve Rotheram, Mayor of the Liverpool City Region, commented, “From cutting edge AI research to breakthroughs in health innovation and climate science, the impact of the pioneering work happening at Daresbury can be felt far beyond our region, and this new supercomputer will turbocharge those capabilities even further.”
Paul Vernon, Head of STFC’s Daresbury Laboratory, added, “The launch of the STFC Supercomputing Centre and Mary Coombs marks an important milestone for UK innovation, giving businesses access to world-class tools and expertise to turn ideas into reality. This new facility is an important national asset for research and innovation, strengthening the North West’s position as a hub for advanced technology, digital skills, and high-value jobs.”
The new supercomputer is part of the £210 million Hartree National Centre for Digital Innovation (HNCDI) programme, a collaboration between STFC and IBM. This programme helps UK businesses and public sector organisations explore and adopt advanced digital technologies such as AI, quantum computing, and data analytics to boost productivity and growth. The launch of the new STFC Supercomputing Centre also supports the Government’s AI Opportunities Action Plan.
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