[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 94 (Friday, July 9, 2004)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1348]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       HIGH PERFORMANCE COMPUTING

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                           HON. GIL GUTKNECHT

                              of minnesota

                    in the house of representatives

                          Friday, July 9, 2004

  Mr. GUTKNECHT. Mr. Speaker, high performance computing has become 
very important to the competitiveness of this country. Supercomputers 
help us solve some of the most critical scientific, business, and 
homeland security problems in this nation. I would like to highlight 
what the citizens in my district working at IBM are doing to advance 
high performance computing.
  I recently visited the Rochester, MN facility of IBM in my district. 
There I learned about IBM's newest supercomputer, Blue Gene/L.
  Blue Gene is an IBM project to build a new family of supercomputers 
optimized for bandwidth, scalability, and the ability to handle large 
amounts of data while consuming a fraction of the power and floor space 
required by today's fastest systems. IBMers in my district are 
exploring how to harness Blue Gene's massive computing power to model 
the folding of human proteins. This technique is expected to give 
medical researchers better understanding of diseases and potential 
cures.
  Two prototypes of IBM's Blue Gene/L now rank #4 and #8 on the latest 
list of the Top 500 fastest supercomputers. When Blue Gene/L is 
finished, it is expected to rank #1 on the Top 500 list next year, 
overtaking the Japan's Earth Simulator.
  The citizens of my district and IBM take their commitment to 
innovation, competitiveness, and the advancement of high performance 
computing in this nation very seriously. The most advanced 
supercomputing skills in the world are right here in the United 
States--and in my district. With the leadership of IBM and the 
Minnesotans it employs, the innovative advances keeping our county 
competitive will remain firmly rooted in the U.S.

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