Officials in Danville are celebrating the unveiling of the nation's first supercomputer outside a federal lab or university.

On Friday officials unveiled the Cray XMT2 supercomputer at the new Noblis Center for Applied High Performance Computing. The computer will be used to solve complex problems requiring access to large amounts of data.

The nonprofit science, technology and strategy group Noblis works in areas like national security, transportation and health care. It partnered with supercomputer maker Cray Inc. to bring the center to economically depressed Danville with help from more than $4 million in state grants.

Danville Mayor Sherman Saunders said Friday's unveiling marked a great day for the region.

The center, which is located in a former tobacco factory, is expected to create 15 jobs over the next three years.