MUNICH, Feb. 12, 2021 — Fujitsu has been selected as the prime contractor to deliver a new supercomputer as part of a drive by the European Union and the Portuguese government to develop world-class high-performance computing (HPC) capabilities for academic and business researchers.

The new system, named Deucalion after the mythological Greek figure, will be installed at the Minho Advanced Computing Centre (MACC) in Portugal. Funding comes from the EuroHPC Joint Undertaking and the Portuguese Government’s Science and Technology Foundation (FCT). The EuroHPC program aims to boost innovation and competitiveness in the EU with the Europe-wide availability of petascale supercomputing – defined as any computer capable of executing more than one Petaflop, or 1 million billion calculations per second.

The supercomputer will support advanced scientific research in public and business sector applications, including personalized medicine, bio-engineering, weather forecasting, the fight against climate change, and in discovering new materials and drugs. This robust and industry-leading technology will also contribute to the fields of Artificial Intelligence and Big Data Utilization, which will play a vital role in the digitalization of Portugal and Europe as a whole.

In a contract valued at €20 million, Fujitsu will supply MACC with its FUJITSU Supercomputer PRIMEHPC FX700, which incorporates the new Arm-based Fujitsu A64FX processor. This processor is powering vital areas of new research and is the core technology used in supercomputer Fugaku which was jointly developed by Japan’s leading research institute RIKEN and Fujitsu. Fugaku recently retained its No. 1 position in the TOP500 list of the world’s fastest supercomputers. The Fujitsu A64FX processor offers exceptional energy efficiency whilst maintaining compliance with the Arm v8.2-A Scalable Vector Extension (SVE), the Arm instruction set for high-performance servers.

In a public tender process, EuroHPC and FCT selected Fujitsu due to its HPC technology leadership, specialized consulting and advisory services for HPC customers, and its proven ability to work within the ecosystem of suppliers necessary for successful HPC projects. Fujitsu is partnering with other leading vendors to supply the total solution, including ATOS (x86 systems), DDN (storage), and Mellanox (interconnect). Fujitsu along with Fujitsu Laboratories will leverage decades of expertise in the HPC business to build and perform system integration.

New supercomputer helps create Portuguese knowledge ecosystem for research teams

For Portugal, hosting a petascale HPC system is the first and most important step towards collaboration with key technology partners. The goal is to create a new ecosystem of knowledge for Portuguese academic and industrial research teams. MACC will play a pivotal role in the country’s national research landscape, with this supercomputer at the centerpiece.

Helena Pereira, President of FCT, says: “In addition to an x86 platform, we wanted to push the boundaries of research using the energy-efficient Arm processors. The Fujitsu A64FX is an excellent choice, being the first genuinely HPC-enabled Arm processor with the SVE capability. Having a petascale supercomputer located in Portugal will transform researchers’ ability to access the computing power they need to push their work to the limit. With Fujitsu’s PRIMEHPC FX700 supercomputer technology, we will be at the forefront of global compute capability for research projects. While power and speed are important, undertaking a technology project on this scale also requires trust across all the partners. Fujitsu has invested the time to work with us, build relationships and understand our precise requirements.”

Carlos Barros, Managing Director at Fujitsu Portugal, comments: “The new Fujitsu A64FX platform offers customers an exceptionally high-performance computing experience combined with optimal operational and environmental conditions. We are delighted that MACC will be one of the first European customers to experience the benefits this platform can deliver. The project aims to deliver truly world-class computing for researchers in Portugal, and Fujitsu, along with its partners, is excited to be working in close collaboration with MACC in the drive to extend access to the highest levels of HPC in the EU.

“High-performance computing is one of the ultimate team games, and success depends on forming strong partnerships. In this respect, Fujitsu works tirelessly to create a culture where partnerships are understood and valued. As a result, we have a long history of collaboration that puts co-creation at the top of the agenda. The MACC project is the latest success story that envelops this collaborative mentality.”