Supercomputer experts predict expansive growth

A panel of eight leaders in the fields of supercomputer design and application was conceived by IEEE Spectrum and asked to foretell their technology´s future. The panelists described the far-reaching effects of such technologies as: high-speed graphics systems and networks that let users refine designs in real time; more uniform operating systems and sophisticated compilers that will make supercomputer-like power available even to inexperienced users; and tremendous performance gains from parallel processing and gallium arsenide chips. Predicting a multitude of applications, they considered such issues as benchmarks, speed, virtual memory, operating systems, languages, and training. Synthesizing the disparate trends, the experts ventured the simple but sweeping conclusion that supercomputer technology may well determine whether it is to be the US or Japan that leads the world technologically and economically into the next century.<>