When technology impacts real life, it ceases to be just innovation and becomes transformation. The high-performance computing (HPC) testbed of the BELLA II project is a key tool to drive that change in Latin America and the Caribbean by turning scientific knowledge into solutions that protect human health and the environment.
In 2024, a group of researchers and students from Universidad del Valle de Guatemala (UVG) carried out a pilot test for environmental remediation using natural compounds. They applied chitosan nanoparticles (a biodegradable substance extracted from shrimp shells), which proved effective in capturing heavy metals present in water, such as lead and arsenic. This solution opened an innovative and sustainable path for restoring damaged ecosystems and reducing pollution.
In this research, the BELLA II HPC testbed enabled the team to perform complex computational chemistry simulations quickly and efficiently. Thanks to this infrastructure, they were able to understand at the molecular level how the pollutants are captured, accelerating the development of real solutions to an urgent problem.
The Idea That Cleans Water
Allan Vásquez, a professor and researcher at UVG who leads the pilot test, stated that his team worked with 3D models of molecules using the BELLA II HPC testbed to calculate how electrons move and bind within those molecules and how they interact with nearby molecules. The main molecule is a polymer extracted from shrimp shells, and the goal was to understand how it binds to contaminants such as arsenic, which is highly present in Guatemala’s water.
These calculations are extremely complex, especially because the molecules are large (around 350 atoms), but thanks to the BELLA II testbed, they were able to run them quickly. With this tool, they calculated the forces that allow the polymer to trap contaminants, helping to explain how it cleans the water. “The BELLA II testbed was fundamental for running complex simulations quickly and accurately, which enabled us to move forward and validate this technology,” the researcher explained.
Such simulations typically require significant time and computational resources, and without access to powerful equipment, similar projects could take up to three times longer or even be halted. “What we completed in six months would have taken 12 to 18 months without the BELLA II HPC platform, due to the high computational load. Having this tool accelerated the process and helped us obtain results,” said the specialist.
For Carlos González, RedCLARA’s Services Manager, the project was a valuable opportunity to apply technology with real-world impact. “It was important to allocate resources to an initiative with high social and environmental value. This was not just about transferring technology—it was about supporting a project that transforms what was once considered waste into a by-product with enormous potential for water remediation and environmental improvement,” he stated. He also emphasized the potential to scale this technology: “We look forward to seeing the next steps—how what was done in the lab can move to a higher level and even generate economic growth. Companies and public sector actors could use this solution, and the university could establish a spin-off.
González also highlighted the value of regional collaboration: “This pilot was a success. In addition to Guatemala, Costa Rica participated, contributing expertise in using new software. It was a valuable experience of knowledge transfer among countries in the region.”
The experience was also highly enriching for the team—especially for the students—who gained access and training to use this technology. The UVG researcher emphasized the importance of expanding access to such resources for more students, as this is how work is done in the rest of the world, using supercomputers to advance in key technology areas.
“In Central America, we face the challenge of preparing new generations to handle this type of fast-evolving technology. The HPC testbed represents a giant benefit for those who truly need and can leverage it, especially since our universities lack these kinds of resources,” he added.
Although the project was developed at a pilot scale, it is part of a broader plan. “In a second or third phase, we aim to scale the technology for implementation in communities, municipalities, and private companies—such as those producing purified water—with the ultimate goal of improving water quality and people’s well-being,” Vásquez explained.
A Growing Regional Experimentation Platform
Launched in 2025 under the technical leadership of RedCLARA, the BELLA II HPC testbed is built on the robust infrastructure of SCALAC (Advanced Computing System for Latin America and the Caribbean). It offers a regional high-performance platform that enables researchers, scientists, governments, companies, and innovators to perform complex simulations, large-scale data analysis, and advanced model processing in a controlled environment. In addition to scalable computational resources tailored to small or large projects, it provides specialized technical support from RedCLARA and SCALAC, ensuring users can fully harness the potential of this infrastructure.
With the results of the pilot project developed in collaboration with UVG, this platform is steadily moving toward its consolidation as a scalable and sustainable service, aligned with the region's main challenges in science, technology, and the environment.
“Supercomputing is the engine that will drive our regions to co-create solutions to the most pressing global challenges—and this has already been proven,” stated Luis Eliécer Cadenas, Executive Director of RedCLARA, referring to the potential of HPC technology during his speech at the High-Level Dialogue on Artificial Intelligence and Platform Governance held in July in São Paulo, Brazil. He added that this approach paves the way for other strategic applications, such as precision medicine, climate modeling, and value chain optimization through AI.
The BELLA II project, implemented by RedCLARA and co-financed by the European Union, will significantly expand regional connectivity by integrating Peru, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador into RedCLARA’s backbone infrastructure.
As part of this project, new experimentation and technological prototyping environments are being deployed. These include not only high-performance computing capabilities but also artificial intelligence (AI), blockchain, and cybersecurity, among others. These environments are key for both academia and industry, as they accelerate innovation and technology validation processes. Advancing AI adoption in the region requires precisely this kind of combined capability.
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