Over at International Science Grid this Week, Amber Harmon discusses Exascale with William Harrod, division director for the US Department of Energy Advanced Scientific Computing Research program.
The DOE has yet to design or develop actual exascale systems, but Herrod remains confident that future investments could make them a reality. He is less sure of the systems’ importance to Congress, as lawmakers have yet to decide on funding. That said, extreme science is not waiting. Scientists and researchers have, in some cases, reached the limits of what petascale can provide and stand at a crossroads waiting for exascale and funding to come together. As Thomas Sterling, associate director of the Center for Research in Extreme Scale Technologies (CREST) at Indiana University asked at the end of 2011, “Can the US influence exascale direction and maintain a strategic lead in its deployment?” We have arrived at the end of 2012, and the answer remains to be seen.
It’s a good read. And while future U.S. policy and science budgets are up in the air these days, the resolve to reach this next leap in computation certainly remains strong as ever. Read the Full Story.
