OSC's blue collar computing

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OSC’s Blue Collar Computing initiative isn’t news—it’s been around for several years. I was reminded of its existence while I was scouring the globe (via NetNewsWire) for news bits for this here site, though, and was struck again by the romantic appeal of this effort.

From their web site:

American manufacturers are under continuous pressure to deliver goods at lower price points and with improved quality. A key technology for achieving these goals is the use of computational models and simulations at both the engineering design level as well as the manufacturing level.…

…General Motors claims that the digital computer crash simulations, made possible due to HPC hardware and HPTC software, can reduce the number of full-size crash vehicle tests by more than 85%, at a cost of $500,000 per test.

Blue Collar Computing (BCC) is an approach to supplying computational modeling and simulation solutions to companies without requiring large up-front investment. The BCC model is service-oriented, relying on amortizing the cost of expertise, software and hardware across many firms to reduce individual expenditures. The BCC model will enable the majority of U.S. firms to exploit numerical models and simulations.

If you aren’t already familiar with this effort, take a few moments to learn a little more. This is Important Stuff.