High-performance computing, computer security conference planned

High-performance computing, computer security conference planned for May

The third National Conference on High Performance Computing Technology will take place in Knoxville in late May, bringing public and private computer systems managers from around the country to learn about the latest advances in high-performance computer systems clusters and computer security.

The conference will take place May 23-25 at Pellissippi State, one of four community colleges across the country that make up the consortium of the National Center of Excellence for High Performance Computing Technology.

The conference will be offered at no charge to participants and will provide a variety of programs of interest to business and industry executives, educators, vendors, and computer system managers and users. A high-performance computing and information technology security job fair will be part of the event, which will take place on the Pellissippi Campus.

Industry leaders in the field of cluster computing and security will make presentations, and the keynote speaker will be Stan Ahalt, executive director of the Ohio Supercomputing Center, who will talk about high-performance computing in the new economy.

Representatives of the country’s main computer systems and software manufacturers—such as Dell, Hewlett Packard, SUN Microsystems, Apple and Microsoft—have been invited to speak and participate with exhibits. Representatives of the National Center for Telecommunications Technology and Oak Ridge National Laboratory also have been invited.

The use of high-performance computing technology in such areas as finance, manufacturing, retailing, law enforcement and government will be discussed.

High-performance computing clusters provide economical solutions for business, industry, institutional and government users to meet their information technology needs.

Because high-performance computer technology relies on clusters of computers, rather than a single computer unit, it offers greater flexibility and fewer maintenance issues. Computer downtime is kept to a minimum, cost-effectiveness is increased, and security against fraud and hacking is improved.

In addition to Pellissippi State, the other community colleges in the consortium are Wake Technical Community College in Raleigh, N.C.; Maui Community College in Kahului, Maui, Hawaii; and Contra Costa College in San Pablo, Calif.

The National Center of Excellence for High Performance Computing Technology is based in Kihei, Maui. Among the partners in the center are Boeing, Cisco Systems, IBM, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and Oak Ridge National Laboratory. The center is supported by a grant from the National Science Foundation.

Those interested in attending should register now through the center’s Web site, www.highperformancecomputing.org. For additional information, call Michael Lusk at 694-6508, Richard Barber at 694-6470 or Mike Hudson at 694-6416, or visit the center’s Web site.

"Inside Pellissippi" is a bi-monthly electronic publication produced by the Community Relations Office for the faculty and staff of Pellissippi State Technical Community College, 10915 Hardin Valley Road, P.O. Box 22990, Knoxville, Tennessee 37933-0990. All suggestions and comments should be sent to Julia Wood (jwood@pstcc.edu).

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