Installed at the RIKEN Advanced Institute for Computational Science campus in Kobe City, Japan, the K computer, named after the Japanese word "kei" that means 10 quadrillion, was ranked first in the TOP500 world's fastest supercomputer list first in June 2011 with a rating of over eight petaflops, and again in November the same year at ten petaflops

Since the supercomputer was produced by Fujitsu, the Japanese vendor received a big boost in public recognition due to the technological achievement, a development that Fujitsu global business group global marketing executive vice president, Conway Kosi, was not surprised with.

"The K computer was twice ranked the world's highest performing and most efficient supercomputer, and not by a slim margin," he said.

"It took a commanding lead over all competitors in the field."

With many difficult issues currently facing society, Kosi said researchers and governments are increasingly looking towards solutions that can perform accurate, high-speed simulations to help solve these problems.