NCSA NEWS

Argonne Scientists to Advise New IBM Deep Computing Institute

released July 13, 1999

Rick Stevens and Jorge Moré of the U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory have been named to the Advisory Board of IBM's newly established Deep Computing Institute. The Institute, a $29 million research initiative, will bring together experts in academia and industry to address some of the world's most challenging business and scientific problems.

"Deep computing" refers to supercomputer-scale processing initiatives that combine massive computation and sophisticated software algorithms to attack problems previously beyond the reach of information technology. Deep computing techniques include optimization, simulation, visualization, and advanced pattern matching and discovery. The term was inspired by IBM's Deep Blue chess-playing computer, which defeated world chess champion Garry Kasparov in 1996.

"Deep computing will enable researchers to tackle and solve problems previously considered intractable. "The potential benefit to society is enormous," said Stevens, director of Argonne's Mathematics and Computer Science (MCS) Division. Stevens is also a principal investigator with the Alliance and team leader of the Alliance's Enabling Technologies Distributed Computing team.

The Institute will be guided by an advisory board of leaders from universities, government laboratories, and corporations. William R. Pulleyblank, director of mathematical sciences at IBM Research, will serve as director of the Institute. In addition to specific research projects, the Institute will launch a series of efforts designed to stimulate discussion, experimentation, and development in the field of deep computing.

 

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