Quake proposes to prepare the Qbeast tool for the market, which is a scalable multidimensional indexing system that enables very efficient multidimensional queries of data. It is therefore designed for big data, but also very useful in other High Performance Computing (HPC) domains.

Qbeast is a transversal tool, which uses interactive supercomputing and in-situ techniques to advance traditional workflows of HPC simulations. Lessons learned from applying it to the Human Brain Atlas use case in the “Data-intensive supercomputing” work package of the HBP’s High Performance Analytics and Computing Platform have contributed to improving its implementation. Moreover, it can be applied to numerous domains, including Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFDs) (used in sectors such as automotive and wind energy), molecular dynamics simulations (pharmaceutical), geological prospections (oil) or weather forecasting (civil emergencies).

“We see Quake as a great opportunity to achieve early exploitation of Qbeast, as one of the tools used in SP7. Reaching the market as soon as possible is crucial if we want Qbeast to become a commercial product in the future”, says Raül Sirvent, Senior Researcher at the Computer Science Department at BSC and leader of the Quake project. He is also Principal Investigator for BSC in the HBP project.

The objectives of Quake are:

• to develop a clear understanding of the potential markets for this technology,
• to develop a prototype as a demonstrator for business intelligence market outreach while exploiting the prototype already developed for the biotech sector, and
• ultimately, to create a comprehensive business plan that will outline the relevant steps required to launch this technology to the market through the creation of a spin-off company.

Link to BSC press release: https://www.bsc.es/news/bsc-news/bsc-awarded-its-first-fet-innovation-launchpad-project