Reflections on science, technology, and computing — leavened by personal experience


This year I again have the privilege to present the Seymour Cray, Ken Kennedy and Sid Fernbach awards at SC12.

The Cray, Fernbach and Kennedy awards and the work of the recipients reflect the evolving interplay of technology, software, applications and algorithms in advancing high-performance computing. They also recognize intellectual leadership and mentoring of a new generation of high-performance computing talent.

The SC09 conference set an attendance record this year – roughly 10,000 attendees at the combined conference and tradeshow – despite the economic malaise of the technology industry and the global economy. One suspects the strong resilience of the conference may be due in part to substantial government investments in very high-performance computing (HPC).

This year, I have the honor and privilege to chair the selection committee for the Seymour Cray and Sidney Fernbach awards, both of which will be presented at SC09 in Portland, Oregon. The deadline for submitting nominations is July 1, 2009. I encourage you to think about our colleagues who have made major contributions to…

It’s “supercomputing week,” which means that almost everyone who can spell HPC and who can walk, drive, swim or fly will be in Austin, Texas during the week of November 16 for SC08. In short, it’s the place to see and be seen, or perhaps not to be seen if you are spending all of…