Luxembourg Supercomputer 'Meluxina' Will be Part of the EuroHPC Network

June 14 — On June 14, 2019, the Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of the Economy, Étienne Schneider, the Deputy Director General of the Directorate General of Communication Networks, Content and Technologies at the European Commission, Khalil Rouhana, as well as LuxConnect CEO Roger Lampach presented the future Luxembourg supercomputer, named “Meluxina,” which will join the European network of EuroHPC supercomputers.

Étienne Schneider at the press conference with Khalil Rouhana, Deputy Director General of the Directorate-General Communication Networks, Content and Technologies at the European Commission, and Roger Lampach, CEO LuxConnect. Source: Ministry of the Economy

The EuroHPC Joint Undertaking, headquartered in the Grand Duchy, is an initiative co-financed by the European Commission and 28 countries, including Luxembourg, which aims to provide Europe with an ecosystem and a computing infrastructure, by June 2019. Following a call for projects, EuroHPC selected eight sites in different Member States to host supercomputers. The Luxembourg project to install the petascale supercomputer Meluxina at LuxConnect in Bissen has been selected. Luxembourg will thus obtain European co-financing for the realization of its own HPC which will integrate the European network of supercomputers.

DG Connect Deputy Director General Khalil Rouhana said: “I am proud to announce that we have kept our promise to work together with EuroHPC member countries to put together a network of world-class supercomputers. These petascale calculators will change the game for hosting sites and selected countries and are a perfect example of how joint EU and Member State investments can make Europe a leader in technologically advanced sectors.”

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Economy Étienne Schneider said: “In line with our data-driven innovation strategy, which aims to develop a sustainable and reliable digital economy, the Luxembourg supercomputer Meluxina will support the digital transition. of the economy and will offer companies new opportunities to innovate and remain competitive in a more and more digital world.In addition, the implementation of a supercomputer in Luxembourg is one of the priority measures of the Rifkin strategy of the Third Industrial Revolution. places digitization and data use at the center of economic and social development.”

The Luxembourg supercomputer Meluxina, hosted, operated and marketed by LuxConnect on its site in Bissen, will be focused on the needs of users. It will be dedicated to applications in research, personalized medicine and eHealth projects, but also to the needs of companies, in particular SMEs and start-ups. In order to facilitate access to the use of Meluxina’s capabilities, a specific skills center will guide and support companies with limited skills in this area.

Meluxina will be installed in the LuxConnect data center in Bissen, powered exclusively by green energy from Kiowatt, a cogeneration power plant fueled by waste wood. Meluxina will be operational in 2020 and will have a computing power of 10 petaflops. As a first step, 20 new jobs will be created as part of the implementation of Meluxina and eventually the competence center HPC will have up to 50 employees.

The name Meluxina evokes the legend of Count Sigefroi and Melusine, which refers to the origins of Luxembourg and is visually aligned with the country’s signature: “Luxembourg, let’s make it happen.” On the one hand, there is fidelity to the values and origins of the country, and on the other hand, openness to new technologies and support for a digital, reliable and dynamic economy.