NEWS BRIEFS

Dallas, TEXAS — In the fast-paced world of high performance computing, where the biggest, the fastest and the newest are merely transitory claims, the list of trailblazing pioneers is relatively short and stable.

One of those who made his name early on is Steve Wallach, whose career has included successful stints ranging from computer designer to entrepreneur, from corporate manager to venture capitalist. And now he has been selected at the keynote speaker at SC2000, the conference of high-performance networking and computing. Registration is now open for SC2000 ( http://www.sc2000.org ), which will be held Nov. 4-10 in the Dallas Convention Center.

Wallach’s keynote address will look at “Petaflops in the Year 2009,” peering into the future when supercomputers will perform quadrillions of calculations per second (petaflops). Wallach will assess both the technological characteristics and the likely marketplace realities that will govern progress toward the petaflops goal.

As one of only a handful of computer engineers who have ever built a successful supercomputer (in terms of design and sales), Wallach will combine his engineering insight with his business acumen to present the pathway to the next generation of supercomputers.

“The SC conference has always attracted the leading drivers of high-performance computing and networking, and we are especially honored to have someone of Steve’s stature serve as our keynote speaker this year,” said Louis Turcotte, chair of SC2000. “Steve’s credentials range from innovative computer designer to successful business entrepreneur to respected advisor for top-level government technology initiatives, and we think his view of the future will be a compelling kickoff to the conference.”

Wallach achieved early fame as a hardware engineer for Data General Corp. His contributions to the 32-bit Eclipse MV superminicomputer series team at Data General are chronicled in the best-selling 1981 Pulitzer Prize winner, “The Soul of a New Machine” by Tracy Kidder. Following his work at Data General he co-founded the successful high-performance computing company Convex Computer. Hewlett-Packard purchased Convex in 1995 and Wallach became Chief Technology Officer at H-P. During his 15 years at Convex/H-P Wallach became recognized as one of the true pioneers of high-end computer engineering, receiving more than 30 patents related to supercomputing.

In 1997 Wallach became a principal advisor to CenterPoint Venture Partners and Sevin-Rosin Funds – leaders in venture capital funding of technology companies. While still active with CenterPoint and Sevin-Rosin, Wallach has recently increased his commitments by returning to the excitement of building a new company, Chiaro Networks, where he is serving as vice president of technology.

He is also a consultant to the U.S. Department of Energy for its Accelerated Strategic Computing Initiative program. Wallach’s career includes membership on the President’s Information Technology Advisor Committee (PITAC), membership in the National Academy of Engineering, serving as visiting Friedkin Professor of Management at Rice University, and serving on numerous advisory boards for universities and national laboratories. He holds both bachelor’s and master’s degrees in electrical engineering and a master’s in business administration.

SC2000 is sponsored by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Computer Society and the Association for Computing Machinery’s Special Interest Group on Computer Architecture. For more information about the conference, go to http://www.sc2000.org/ .

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