A new High-Performance Computer (HPC) facility, realized by LAU as part of a consortium of five universities and the National Council for Scientific Research, was launched by the Ministry of Communications in a ceremony at the Grand Serail on May 23. 

HPC4L, donated by the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) in 2022, will provide LAU researchers with essential computing capacity for their projects, significantly enhancing the scientific landscape at the university.

The event was hosted by the Ministry of Telecommunications, in collaboration with the High-Performance Computing for Lebanon (HPC4L) Steering Committee, under the auspices of Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati.

The HPCAL is housed at OGERO, the backbone infrastructure for all telecom networks in Lebanon, which made this initiative possible. Thanks to OGERO’s state-of-the-art data center and high-speed internet, said OGERO Chairman Imad Kreidieh, the HPCAL will be directly connected to the 90,000-processor core and 10,000-server cluster hosted at CERN in Geneva, with access to the huge amounts of data generated by CERN’s Large Hadron Collider – the world’s largest particle accelerator.  

As part of the consortium of universities – namely, the American University of Beirut, Saint Joseph University, Beirut Arab University and the Lebanese University – and the National Council for Scientific Research, LAU led the system administration of the HPC setup. Among other advantages, LAU students will thus be able to use the center for their capstone projects and to run demos on site.

Dean of the School of Engineering Michel Khoury, LAU VPs and AVPs were present at the launching event, along with representatives from CERN, CMS and the partner universities.

“The generous donation of a high-performance computing cluster by CERN will empower graduate students and researchers from local universities, enabling them to pursue cutting-edge research, contribute to their fields, and bridge the funding gap that often hinders such initiatives,” said Dr. Khoury.

Head of IT at CERN Enrica Porcari gave an overview of the collaboration with Lebanon and its donation of hardware to HPC4L while CMS spokesperson Patricia McBride outlined the training and support that CMS provided to Lebanese experts in the setting up and running of the supercomputer.

CERN representative Martin Gastal thanked the generous donors and all stakeholders who played a pivotal role in the success of the HPC4L project, commending the hard work and synergy that helped surmount obstacles in the project.

LAU alumnus and Lead Lab Supervisor Salim Jamal-Eddine (BE ’09), who has extensive experience in the High-Performance Computing (HPC) field will administer and manage the facility for the university, and provide capacity building for faculty, staff and students on the unlimited capabilities of the new cluster. 

This will enable them to tackle more complex projects and enhance their research and publications exponentially.