ST PAUL, Minn., November 18, 2025—Hyperion Research announced the recipients of the 21st round of HPC Innovation Excellence Awards at their annual HPC/AI Market Update Breakfast during SC25.
The 2025 winners of the HPC Innovation Awards are:
Urgent HPC for Earthquakes Applied as a Service
– Organizations: Barcelona Supercomputing Center (BSC) and Mexico’s National Seismological Service (SSN)
– Contact: Aerton Guimarães & Marisol Monterrubio
– Innovation: The participation of the Barcelona Supercomputing Center (BSC) and the ChEESE Centre of Excellence in Mexico’s National Earthquake Drill marked a milestone in the global application of European high-performance computing. Urgent computing workflows and seismic simulation technologies developed within European flagship projects were deployed in a national-scale emergency exercise in collaboration with Mexico’s National Seismological Service (SSN) and the Institute of Geophysics of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM). The drill demonstrated the ability to deliver near real-time seismic simulations and hazard maps for a magnitude 8.1 earthquake scenario. This showcased how European Tier-0 HPC resources can support rapid, life-saving decision-making and deliver actionable information within minutes after a seismic event. For the SSN it was a proof-of-concept for integrating urgent computing workflows into their operational procedures, opening the path to adopting this technology in future drills and seismic events. This collaboration shows how exascale-ready infrastructures can strengthen societal resilience and international cooperation.
Exploring Real-time Tsunami Warning System on World’s Fastest Supercomputer
– Organizations: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, University of Texas at Austin, and Scripps Institution of Oceanography (UC San Diego)
– Contact: Jeremy Thomas, LLNL
– Innovation: Coastal communities often have only minutes to evacuate after an offshore earthquake. Now, a real-time tsunami warning framework can give them precious time to act. By combining sensor data with full-physics modeling powered by the exascale El Capitan supercomputer at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), researchers from LLNL, the University of Texas at Austin’s Oden Institute, and Scripps Institution of Oceanography can predict the arrival and height of tsunami waves in seconds. To help authorities issue earlier and more accurate warnings, this capability models 55.5-trillion-scaled acoustic-gravity wave propagations, reconstructs the seafloor motion caused by earthquakes, and solves billion-parameter-scale inverse problems in less than 0.2 seconds. Together, these unprecedented computations make real-time tsunami forecasting a reality for the first time, incorporating confidence ranges into every forecast so responders can better assess risk with more certainty.
Agentic AI for Biomanufacturing Optimization Using Hybrid Quantum–Classical HPC Systems
– Organization: ORCA Computing
– Contact: Per Nyberg
– Innovation: ORCA Computing co-led a collaboration to develop Agentic AI, a next-generation artificial intelligence framework that fuses high-performance computing (HPC), photonic quantum processors, and agent-based automation to transform biomanufacturing. In partnership with the Technical University of Denmark (DTU), Novo Nordisk, and SiC Systems, the team created the Sense-Infer-Control (SIC) platform — a dynamic feedback and control architecture that links digital twin simulations with real-time execution across distributed process environments. ORCA’s photonic quantum hardware, integrated with GPU-accelerated HPC nodes via hybrid quantum-classical algorithms, enabled SiC’s AI agents to autonomously analyze, infer, and optimize multiscale bioprocesses in real time, orchestrate fragmented sensor networks to maintain optimal conditions, and perform explainable, physics-based decision-making. This approach delivers more consistent yields, lower costs, and improved reproducibility for biologics and chemical manufacturing.
NVIDIA Blackwell GPU and Platform
– Organization: NVIDIA
– Contact: Kristine Neufeld and Melissa Ruby
– Innovation: NVIDIA developed a new GPU that is an important step forward in performance and capabilities. The combination of the NVIDIA Blackwell GPU and NVIDIA Grace CPU provides a major advancement for large scale AI applications and is dramatically faster than the previous NVIDIA Hopper GPU. It was developed and brought to market in a shorter timeframe than previous generations of GPUs. GPU and CPU performance improvements are very time dependent, so the combination of increased performance and faster time-to-market makes it a major accomplishment. Users will be able to run larger AI problems than before and will be able to run models at a considerably faster rate. This should provide a sizable improvement in applying AI to technical computing workloads. One measure of the value of the Blackwell breakthrough is the strong market adoption of the GPU, which forms the backbone of many AI systems around the world.
Gas Lift Optimization (GLO): Closed Loop, AI Driven Optimization at Permian Field Scale
– Organization: Occidental Petroleum (OXY)
– Contact: Nikolaos Mitsakos
– Innovation: The Gas Lift Optimizer (GLO) changed how Occidental Petroleum (OXY) manages gas lift operations across its oil fields. By introducing a closed-loop AI-driven system that autonomously adjusts gas injection rates in real time, OXY replaced manual workflows with intelligent automation. GLO represents a first-of-its-kind deployment of scalable, self-optimizing control systems in upstream oil and gas. GLO demonstrates how advanced analytics, digital twins, and real-time feedback can be integrated to make complex industrial systems smarter, safer, and more sustainable. GLO v3 shifted the system from predictive network modeling to measurement-feedback control, cutting optimization run times, as well as onboarding times for new wells and compressors, to minutes. Combined with pressure-aware flare mitigation logic, GLO maximizes production and prevents emissions events, reinforcing OXY’s commitment to sustainability.
Hyperion Research welcomes award entries from around the world. Entries may be submitted at any time by completing the application form available at https://www.hpcuserforum.com/innovationaward/. Submissions must contain a clear description of the impact of the project. The HPC User Forum Steering Committee performs an initial ranking of submissions, after which domain and vertical experts are called on, as needed, to evaluate the submissions.
For more information, contact info@hyperionres.com
Since 2011, these semi-annual innovation excellence awards have been recognized globally as the touchstone for outstanding achievements that were supported by the use of high performance computing (HPC). Winners have ranged from government and academic research teams to some of the world’s largest corporations. The program’s goals are to showcase HPC-supported, real-world achievements with significant potential for benefiting humanity — achievements that demonstrate the value of HPC for research and development in government, academic or private-sector organizations.
Only a few of the many nominations receive these awards. Judges for the awards, chartered with carefully reviewing each submitted nomination, are the members of the worldwide steering committee of the HPC User Forum, representing leading HPC user organizations in government, academia and industry. Award winners receive a $1,000 honorarium, an award certificate and trophy recognizing their achievements.
