Eric D. Isaacs on Why America Must Win the Supercomputer Race

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Director of Argonne National Laboratory Eric. D. Isaacs blogs that the United States cannot afford to take a back seat in computer technology to the Chinese, or to anyone else. He contends that the nation that leads the world in HPC will have an enormous competitive advantage in every sector and will attract the best scientific and engineering talent from around the world.

We need to make sure that American researchers and engineers have access to the supercomputers and other technological tools they need to help solve the great scientific, energy, environment, and security challenges of our time. We also need to make sure that our laboratories are equipped with cutting-edge facilities that will draw talented young scientists from around the world.

Isaacs goes on to say that the new number one Chinese supercomputers were built largely from American-designed components, but the country is already are at work on a 1-petaflop supercomputer made from Chinese parts.

America needs a substantial, longterm national investment to speed our journey down the road to exascale computing – a road that leads to economic growth, international competitiveness and national security. Without that commitment, the American supercomputers of the future may be labeled, “Made in China.”