Interview: Nvidia's Andy Walsh Previews Next Week's GPU Technology Conference

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The GPU Technology Conference kicks off next week in San Jose with a focus on scientific computing. The conference has grown considerably over the years, so I caught up with NVIDIA’s Andy Walsh to learn more. Walsh currently serves as Director of Marketing for their Accelerated Computing Business.

insideHPC: What will be new and exciting this year for the HPC crowd at GTC?

Andy Walsh: We’ve come a long way since the first GTC. In 2009, we created GTC to engage a diverse group of developers, scientists, and researcher using CUDA GPUs. The response then was much greater than we could imagine.

GTC has become the most important event showcasing breakthroughs in science and industry, thousands of the brightest minds will gather at GTC to meet, network and share ideas. This year’s conference will feature 400+ sessions and attendees from over 40 countries. What’s new this year is we expanded the scope to include tracks in manufacturing and design, media and entertainment, cloud computing, game and mobile development, and more. Attendees also will experience interesting things up and down the concourse from test driving state of the art cars to over 150 research posters.

insideHPC: How big are the exhibits this year?

Andy Walsh: GTC 2013 is expected to have our best exhibit area ever, with the largest numbers of companies exhibiting. This year, over 100 of the most important companies in the industry will be showcasing cutting edge offerings from HPC to mobile technology. We are also featuring companies that have joined us for the very first time, including Cisco, Citrix, VMware, IGI, Microsoft, Ingram Micro, Quantel, and Acer. Lunches and cocktail receptions are held in the exhibit hall, making the GTC exhibits area a vibrant place to network and learn about GPU solutions.

insideHPC: I’m particularly excited about the Emerging Companies Summit. Can you tell us more about that?

Andy Walsh: The Emerging Companies Summit (ECS) provides an opportunity for startups to showcase how they are using GPUs to transform industries and create new ones. This year, ECS will feature 16 companies from around the world advancing diverse fields, as well as a “CEO on Stage” event – where executives will present their companies to a panel of investors, analysts and tech leaders who will challenge the presenters with questions and provide insightful feedback. Five top startups will be recognized for their innovation in a competition with more than $75,000 in prizes.

insideHPC: When does it all begin next week?

Andy Walsh: GTC 2013 starts on Monday, March 18, with a full-day of preconference tutorials on a variety of topics including GPU programming languages and libraries to application optimization, visualization, video processing, and ray tracing.

On Tuesday, March 19, NVIDIA CEO and Co-Founder Jen-Hsun Huang will officially kick off a week of GTC sessions with the delivery of the opening keynote.

To see the full schedule of over 400 sessions, visit the GTC sessions and schedule page.