New supercomputer named ‘Anselm’ after historic local coal mine

Anselm was the son of Salomon M. Rothschild, the legendary local industrialist who owned the Vítkovice ironworks and many of Ostrava’s coal mines. It was also the historic name of one of the first collieries in the region, dating back to the 1830s and now the site of the Mining Museum in Petřkovice. Rector Ivo Vondrák explained that the name was chosen in honour of the region’s rich industrial heritage, but also emphasized Ostrava’s bright and innovative future – whereas the city used to be known for coal-mining, it is now ready to focus on data-mining. The name was chosen from over 6000 suggestions by a public vote. Other proposed names included ‘Central Brain of Humanity’, ‘Trinity’, ‘Matrix’, and other names paying homage to Ostrava’s distinctive local culture and folklore. The eventual winner was Ondřej Dýšek from Pelhřimov, whose prize includes the chance to visit the French offices of Bull in Angers, where the supercomputer was born. Anselm will have the same computing capacity as almost 4000 ordinary laptops. The first part of the supercomputer – known as the ‘Small Cluster’ – is already in operation at the IT4Innovations Centre of Excellence. Anselm is scheduled for completion within two years, when it will become one of the hundred most powerful computers in the world. It will be used for nanotechnology research and development in a range of industries – pharmaceuticals, engineering, automotive and aviation, transport, and much more.