Hardware delivered
The HPC hardware has now been delivered to Newcastle and is being configured by the suppliers, OCF. This is a new phase for the project team, who have been working with OCF on the details of the system configuration, and with the HPC steering group on the overall design of the HPC service and policies for its use.

New staff
The HPC team welcomes Gary Wright, who has joined NUIT as HPC system administrator. Gary will be responsible for the day-to-day administration of the HPC system.

Service name
The HPC service will be known as Rocket, in honour of the iconic steam locomotive that was designed by George and Robert Stephenson and was built in Newcastle. The Rocket locomotive was built for speed and brought together a number of innovations, winning the Rainhill speed trials and setting the design template for future steam locomotive engines. It marks the role of Newcastle and local people, particularly George Stephenson, in the innovations and drive that became the railway revolution, whose impact is still felt around the world.

Service information
Look for the developing web pages on Rocket at http://www.ncl.ac.uk/itservice/research/hpc/