On Saturday 22 March, the West Cambridge Data Centre opened its doors to the public for a rare and exciting look at Dawn, the UK’s most powerful AI supercomputer. Held at the Computer Laboratory in the William Gates Building, the event ran from 11:00am to 4:00pm and drew a lively mix of families, students, tech enthusiasts, and curious visitors.
The star of the day was the virtual reality tour of Dawn, which offered attendees a unique, immersive view inside the supercomputer’s powerful server stacks. Equipped with over a thousand cutting-edge Intel GPUs, Dawn is a powerhouse enabling research breakthroughs in areas such as clean energy, climate science, and personalised medicine. The VR experience made the technology feel tangible and accessible, even for those with little technical background.
Members of the Research Computing Services team and at@cam, Cambridge’s initiative to develop AI that benefits science, society, and citizens, were on hand to explain the workings of the system and share how Dawn projects are making real-world impact.
For younger visitors (and the young at heart), the Lego supercomputer building station was a hit—blending creativity with tech in a hands-on, playful way that kept people engaged throughout the day.
