SCIENCE
SC10 - World’s Leading Supercomputing Forum Kicks Off Week of Discovery
SC10, the 23rd conference in the SC series opens this week, to a record number of technical program attendees in New Orleans, LA. The premier international conference on high-performance computing, networking, storage and analysis provides the leading forum for the exchange of information in the global HPC community through a vibrant exhibit floor, a set of strong community programs, and the highly respected technical program that anchors the conference each year.
“The SC conference series is truly a remarkable gathering of the best minds in the computing community on both the provider and user side,” says Barry V. Hess, SC10 General Chair and Deputy Chief Information Officer for Sandia National Laboratories. “Supercomputing is a universal scientific instrument – one with the power to make the world a better place for all of us. You can really feel that potential when you are at the conference.”
The SC conference technical program sets the bar for technical computing conferences with rigorously reviewed tutorials, papers, panels, workshops and posters that provide fast access to new research results from laboratories and institutions around the world.
In addition to the Technical Program, SC10 has assembled a global Who’s Who of industry experts to offer diverse points of view on many of the ideas shaping the future of HPC. This year's conference features many panels designed to spur discussion on large and small topics, and a striking slate of plenary speakers.
“These speakers are the best and brightest in the world, working in fields that have direct impact on the world and our place in it,” explains Ricky Kendall, chair of the SC10 Technical Program and Group Leader for the Scientific Computing Group at the Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility. “The plenary talks stimulate new ideas and keep people talking throughout the year.”
Clayton M. Christensen, the world’s foremost authority on disruptive innovation and author of the acclaimed book The Innovator’s Dilemma, will deliver the keynote address at the conference. Christensen’s address, titled, “How to Create New Growth Businesses in a Risk-Minimizing Environment” will open the technical program portion of the conference at 8:45 a.m. Tuesday, Nov.16.
The conference also hosts the supercomputing industry’s largest exhibit floor. The exhibition, which opens Monday, Nov. 15 and concludes Thursday, Nov. 18, will feature over 300 exhibitors from around the world. Attendees will have the unique opportunity to talk with the world’s leading users, providers, and researchers in the supercomputing community as they explore the 386,000 square feet of exhibition space in New Orlean’s Ernest N. Morial Convention Center. This year’s exhibition will be the largest ever at an SC conference.
The SC Conference series has always been a rich source for education in the supercomputing community, and this year SC10 offers a unique opportunity for seasoned practitioners and new professionsl to sharpen their skills through the tutorials program. The SC10 Technical Program Committee has selected 33 half-day and full-day tutorials covering a spectrum of foundation skills, hot topics, and emerging technologies in HPC.
SC10 is also home to one of the fastest computer networks in the world. The network, called SCinet, serves as the platform for exhibitors to demonstrate some of the most advanced computers and applications in the world. This year’s state-of-the-art network will boast capacity of over 260 gigabits per second – that’s enough data to allow the entire collection of books at the Library of Congress to be transferred in less than thirty seconds. SCinet will also, for the first time ever, host a full production wide area 100 Gigabit Ethernet connection.
“SCinet is an unmatched, all-volunteer effort,” explains Jamie Van Randwyk, manager, Informatics and Systems Assessments Department at Sandia National Laboratories and chair of SCinet. “The aggregate bandwidth of SCinet exceeds the bandwidth in all but a few countries of the world, enabling extraordinary one-of-a-kind application demonstrations that can only happen in this kind of environment.”
Of course all technology in the world isn’t effective without the people to put it into action, and SC10 complements its technical offerings with strong emphasis on developing the next generation of computing professionals. 2010 marks the second year of SC Communities, the body that synthesizes the programs contributing to the vibrancy and diversity of the global supercomputing community.
“Supercomputing offers unique advantages to the advancement of science and our world standard of living,” explains Boston University’s Jennifer Teig von Hoffman, SC10 Communities chair. “And the conference organizers recognize that it is ultimately not about the technologies alone. We need people to enable the hardware to make a difference. Developing the next generation of HPC talent is the focus of the collection of programs organized as SC10 Communities.”
SC10 Communities initiatives include education programs for undergraduate professors and K-12 teachers, participation grants to bring students and early-career professionals to the conference, competitions to develop HPC skills, sessions tailored to engage members of traditionally under-represented groups, and special assistance for international travelers.
Members of the media are invited to visit the conference and get in on all the action during SC10. Media registration for the conference is now open. Members of the press can attend for free, but must fill out the online press form at http://sc10.supercomputing.org to attend.