N early 6,000 people attended the eighth annual supercomputing conference, Supercomputing '95, held Dec. 3-8 at the San Diego Convention Center. Sponsored by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and the Association for Computing Machinery Special Interest Group on Computer Architecture (ACM SIGARCH), the event is the world's premier conference on high-performance computing and communications.SC '95 showcased the latest progress in many fields of computational science, including ocean and atmospheric modeling, biochemistry, fluid dynamics, physics, biology, and engineering. The conference featured a strong technical program, in-depth tutorials, and 161,000 square feet of exhibits. It also offered an education program with sessions on K-12 topics and special high school days. An ambitious "information architecture" gave participants multiple options for network connectivity.
The technical program included keynote and invited speakers, technical papers, panels, workshops, the yearly High-Performance Computing Challenge, computing center roundtables, birds-of-a-feather sessions, and an exhibitors' forum. For more information, see "SC '95 technical program: Rich with information."The SC '95 exhibition was the largest in the history of the conference. Research, poster, and industry exhibits filled the Convention Center, most offering interactive and web-based presentations. The exhibition floor premiered on Monday, Dec. 4, at 7 p.m. with a gala opening for technical program registrants; exhibits were open Tuesday through Thursday. For more information, see "161,000 square feet of supercomputing technologies."
The education program included posters, papers, and panels, with a focus on high-performance computing and information technology. Special sessions were held on graduate and undergraduate computational science education, K-12 education, and ways communities are becoming networked across the nation. Invited high school students, teachers, and administrators from Southern California and Mexico attended discussions and returned to their schools with a vision of how computation and technology can complement existing curricula.
To accommodate the evolving needs of conference presenters, SC '95 developed a comprehensive information architecture for the conference. This cabled infrastructure transmitted information and integrated electronic audiovisual support with local and national networking. The architecture encompassed the Information Wide-Area Year (I-WAY), SCInet '95, next-generation audiovisual capabilities, various local experimental networks, and the GII testbed. For more information, see "Awesome information architecture advanced at SC '95."
Taking cues from San Diego's ocean location, the conference sported a nautical theme. Signage and logos featured international flags used as communication aides for navigation around the globe.
Supercomputing '95 was a chance for participants to meet and compare notes with colleagues, renew friendships, make new contacts, and have fun. The conference concluded with a reception at Sea World.