ACADEMIA

A NEW supercomputer launched at the University of Adelaide would enable quicker scientific breakthroughs, the university said. The computer, named Aquila, with 160GB of RAM, was purchased by the South Australian Partnership for Advanced Computing (SAPAC), made up of the state's three main universities - the University of South Australia, Flinders University and the University of Adelaide - and the state government. "It will provide an enormous boost to the state's researchers and industry in areas as diverse as drug design, petroleum and mining engineering, car and component manufacturing, water resource management and the environment," SAPAC director Tony Williams said in a statement. The new computer offered breakthroughs in scientific disciplines including salinity, climate modelling, genetics, physics, chemistry, bioinformatics, fluid dynamics, petroleum engineering, geophysics, cancer treatment and nanotechnology, SA Minister of Science and Information Economy Trish White said when plans for the computer were announced in May.