Masterworks

Masterworks are invited presentations that highlight novel and innovative ways of applying advanced computing and communications technology to solve challenging, real-world problems. That is, they show the practical side of igniting innovation in supercomputing, and the real difference it can make for companies and the general public. The focus is on how recent developments in computational methods are changing the ways that business and science are carried out. This always makes the talks interesting, relevant, and memorable.

This year we are proud to have an exceptionally strong slate of Masterworks talks, with talks from leaders in both the computer industry and important application users. Our presentations follow four themes, each of interest to a substantial part of the SC2003 audience:

• Renewable Energy and Earth Systems. (Tuesday and Wednesday mornings) Although weather forecasting has been a driving application for high-performance computing for decades, it is by no means the only computationally intensive study of earth systems. For example, Edward Hall from General Electric Global Research Center will discuss “Computing a Renewable Energy Future”, an issue of great importance to both society and the planet.
• High Performance Computing Infrastructure. (Tuesday afternoon) Despite much work, it’s still hard to get the best performance out of your computers, with issues ranging from data management to supercomputer architectures. Fortunately, there are success stories that you can study. For example, Pete Bradley describes “Ten Years on the Grid – Production Design Using Large Scale Grid Computing at Pratt and Whitney”.
• New Technology. (Wednesday afternoon) What will the future of supercomputing look like? Bill Dally of Stanford talks about trends in hardware and Susan Graham of UC Berkeley previews software developments. Plus, we have a session on the emerging field of nanotechnology.
• Bio-informatics and Life Sciences. (Thursday morning and afternoon) From identifying and tracking genes to understanding how the brain works, biology is in the midst of a revolution. Computers play a key part in this, from collecting the data to making sense of it. For example, Anton Koning of SARA Computing and Networking Services shows “VR Applications for Mining Genomics Data”

Masterworks presentations are in room 16-18, near Lobby 1. We hope to see many of you there for what promises to be a great show.

John Sopka, SC2003 Masterworks Co-Chair
Beverly Clayton, SC2003 Masterworks Co-Chair

Masterworks Committee
John Sopka, Sun Microsystems (Co-Chair)
Beverly Clayton, Pittsburgh Supercomputer Center (Co—Chair)
Bill Buzbee, Buzbee Enterprises, LLC
Tim Mattson, Intel
Raymond Paden, IBM