Every June, many of the world’s leading experts in high-performance computing gather in Germany for the annual International Supercomputer Conference (ISC2004) for fours days of presentations, exhibits and networking. ISC2004 will be held June 22-25 in Heidelberg. One of the hallmarks of the conference, now in its 19th year, is the “Hot Seat Session,” an afternoon of 16 short, to-the-point presentations by experts from providers of hardware, software, interconnects, solutions and HPC centers. Each speaker has only 10 minutes to highlight the latest information about current developments, new products and strategies. Then, a specially selected panel of “inquisitors” follows up by posing two probing questions to the speaker. “What makes these sessions so popular and informative are both the reactions and responses of the speakers,” said ISC2004 Conference Chairman Prof. Hans Werner Meuer of the University of Mannheim. “Though relatively brief, each presentation is taken seriously by both the attendees and the participating speakers – it’s not unusual to have a company’s CTO or even CEO giving the presentation.” The “Hot Seat Session” will be held the afternoon of Thursday, June 25. To see a schedule of who’s on the hot seat, go to www.isc2004.org/hot_seat.php . The conference, which is conducted in English, has a well-established reputation for presenting well-founded, precise and up-to-date information in a collegial setting. As a result, this HPC event has created a unique atmosphere of collaboration and cooperation. Learn more about ISC2004, which is being held under the theme of “Applications, Architectures, Trends,” at www.isc2004.org . The annual conference is held in Heidelberg, the home of Germany's oldest university as well as a thriving modern research community.