T

he Faculty of ICT is an engineering marvel. At its core are 26 blade servers that do the heavy lifting by number crunching research requests from faculty staff, which include big data, real time analysis, spam filtering, cryptography, software engineering, and others. Blade servers are computers that can easily be slotted into a cupboard-sized housing. They all communicate and share data while being easily replaceable. The research never needs to stop; all requests can be handled immediately.

The building also boasts an advanced Building Management System, which controls temperature and airflow for all rooms apart from the servers (these have a separate dust free system). The building’s roof (like several others at UoM) is covered in solar panels. But the building has emergency systems for power and water that means it can run during a blackout at night.

The building and its equipment were bought from a €17.3 million ERDF received in 2013. The rest was financed by the Mediterranean Virtual University (MVU) EU project. Together with nine partners in the Mediterranean region, the University of Malta received four million Euro to equip laboratories, set up networks, and update equipment.

The latest equipment allows the Faculty of ICT, and the University of Malta, to play a relevant role in international research. Currently the Maltese government wants to create a regional hub for cloud computing, which directly feeds into the Maltese economy. The project will eventually attract businesses relying on this technology, increasing employment rates and revenue.