Gators pushed in earplugs before touring UF’s new supercomputer Tuesday afternoon.
As part of UF President Kent Fuchs’ inauguration, more than 150 UF faculty, staff and other supporters gathered at the East Campus building to celebrate the official launch of HiPerGator 2.0, the state’s most powerful supercomputer.
"We are now not limited by resources," Fuchs said of the Dell-manufactured machine, which continually whirs loudly as it processes information.
He told the crowd the computer will help UF researchers inspire change on campus.
The computer cost more than $8 million, said Elias Eldayrie, the UF Information Technology vice president and chief information officer. The funds came mostly from the UF IT office, the Provost Office and Office of Research.
"It allows researchers to uncover the next discovery in education and society in general," Eldayrie said.
The machine is available to everyone at the university, Fuchs said.
"I’m really impressed by how many people have been using the previous version (of the supercomputer), called HiPerGator 1.0," Fuchs said. "At most universities, the supercomputers are reserved for very few people."
The computer allows the 1,500 researchers who use it to extract interesting information from big data sets, he said.
This can help them create simulations and patterns, Eldayrie said.
"It’s a wonderful time in the university with the new president and the resources to advance research and become the preeminent institution that we can be," he said.
