Introduction

The supercomputer industry is a fragile industry. In 1983, when this conference first met, we were concerned with the challenge of international competition in this market sector. In recent times, the challenge to the economic health and well-being of this industry in the U.S. has not come from foreign competition but from technology improvements at the low end and confusion in the primary market, industry. The economic viability of the supercomputing industry will depend on the acceptance by private industrial users. Traditional industrial users of supercomputing have come to understand that using computing tools at the high end of the performance spectrum provides a competitive edge in product design quality. Yet, the question is no longer one of computational power alone. The resource of "supercomputing at the highest end" is a very visible expense on most corporate ledgers.

In 1983 a case could be made that in sheer price/performance, supercomputers were leaders and if used properly, could reduce corporate computing costs. Today, this argument is no longer true. Supercomputers are at the leading edge of price/performance, but there are alternatives equally competitive in the workstation arena and in the midrange of price and performance. The issue then, is not simply accounting but one of capability. With advanced computing capability, both in memory size and computational power, the opportunity exists to improve product designs (e.g., fuel-efficient airplanes), optimize performance (e.g., enhanced oil recovery), and shorten time from conceptual design to manufacture (e.g., find a likely minimal-energy state for a new compound or medicine). Even in industries where these principles are understood, there still are impediments to the acquisition and use of high-performance computing tools. In what follows we attempt to identify these issues and look at aspects of technology transfer and collaboration among governmental, academic, and industrial sectors that could improve the economic health of the industry and the competitiveness of companies that depend on technology in their product design and manufacturing processes.