Supercomputing conference underway in Salt Lake

More than 11,000 high-performance computing (HPC) professionals are in Salt Lake City through Nov. 18 for the annual SC16 Conference showcasing how supercomputing, networking, storage and analysis advance scientific research in medicine, education, weather forecasting, space exploration and commerce. Professionals and educators from 55 countries along with 350 exhibitors will spend more than $10 million during the five-day event.

More than 11,000 high-performance computing (HPC) professionals are in Salt Lake City through Nov. 18 for the annual SC16 Conference showcasing how supercomputing, networking, storage and analysis advance scientific research in medicine, education, weather forecasting, space exploration and commerce. Professionals and educators from 55 countries along with 350 exhibitors will spend more than $10 million during the five-day event.

Including in the agenda are a technical education program, workshops, tutorials, the world’s largest supercomputing exhibit area, demonstrations and opportunities for hands-on learning.

Exhibitors include Cisco, Cray, Google, IBM, NASA, the U.S. Department of Energy and the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory.

During the event, organizers will release the Top 500 list of the world’s fastest supercomputers, a closely watched indicator of global competition in computing technology and the economic strength it enables.

Big data computer expert Katharine Frase was the SC16 keynote speaker on Tuesday and discussed “Cognitive Computing: How Can We Accelerate Human Decision Making, Creativity and Innovation Using Techniques from IBM’s Watson and Beyond?” Frase, formerly chief technology officer of public sector and vice president at IBM, provided real-world examples of what the future will look like as it relates to artificial intelligence and cognitive computing.

In addition to Frase, 12 featured speakers were scheduled to discuss pioneering technical achievements, the latest innovations in HPC and data analytics. Topics include a wide range of subjects from advances in “Smart Cities” to using computational analysis to fight massive wildfires and predict their behavior.

Teams of students from around the world were set to compete in the 48-hour Student Cluster Challenge, working around the clock to build and run applications on a supercomputer of their own design requiring no more energy than a coffee maker. A team from the University of Utah was included in the competition.