In a rapidly evolving field like high performance computing, no one can afford to rest on their laurels. This is exemplified in the rise of China, which in a few short years has eclipsed the traditional powerhouses of the US and Japan. Just how did they develop the world’s fastest supercomputer using home-grown chip technology? We examine this and other astonishing accomplishments of the Middle Kingdom in our cover story (The Next Supercomputing Superpower).
But supercomputers are not just getting faster, they’re getting greener too. Satoshi Matsuoka (Green Is The New Black) shares with us how he made Tokyo Institute of Technology’s Tsubame-KFC computer super-efficient by immersing the entire machine in oil. Our other interviewee in this issue needs no introduction—he is computing pioneer and legend Gordon Bell of the eponymous ACM Gordon Bell Prize (An Exemplary Engineer).
Finally, we turn our attention to Singapore, a small nation that has an outsized supercomputing capability (Powering The Little Red Dot). With its own petascale facility, Singapore holds its own against other Asian nations (Asia’s Supercomputing Scorecard).
Juliana Chan
Editor-In-Chief
This article was first published in the print version of Supercomputing Asia, January 2017.
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Copyright: Asian Scientist Magazine.
Disclaimer: This article does not necessarily reflect the views of AsianScientist or its staff.
