Abstract

This paper summarizes both the author's views as panelist and chair and the views of other panelists expressed during presentations and discussions in connection with the Industrial Supercomputing Session convened at the second Frontiers of Supercomputing conference. The other panel members were Patric Savage, Senior Research Fellow, Computer Science Department, Shell Development Company; Howard E. Simmons, Vice President and Senior Advisor, du Pont Company; Myron Ginsberg, Consultant Systems Engineer, EDS Advanced Computing Center, General Motors Corporation; and Robert Hermann, Vice President for Science and Technology, United Technologies Corporation. Included in these remarks is an overview of the basic issues related to high-performance computing needs of private-sector industrial users. Discussions

that ensued following the presentations of individual panel members focused on supercomputing questions from an industrial perspective in areas that include cultural issues and problems, support issues, efficiency versus ease of use, technology transfer, impediments to broader use, encouraging industrial use, and industrial grand challenges.