Henry Burkhardt III: with wit and energy, the former child prodigy and cofounder of Data General is shaking up the supercomputer industry

Article Abstract:

The same traits of curiosity and love of speed that at one time prompted Henry Burkhardt III to drive his Maserati Bora 130 miles per hour also put him on a very fast career path that has seen him co-found three computer companies and a half dozen biomedical firms in less than 20 years. Virtually interested in 'everything,' Burkhardt entered Phillips Exeter Academy at 14, completed the four-year program in three years, and finished six years of mathematics during that time. He dropped out of Princeton at age 19 and became an applications programmer for DEC. When Burkhardt's and co-worker Edson de Castro's suggestion that DEC build computers based on 8-, 16- and 32-bit word lengths was dismissed by management, they started their own company, Data General Corp. Burkhardt was 23. At 32, tired of being the number two executive, Burkhardt left the company. In 1983, he founded Encore Computer Corp with Ken Fisher of Prime Computer Corp and Gordon Bell, whom Burkhardt had worked with at DEC. Burkhardt is now CEO of his most recent start-up, Kendall Square Research, where he is working to build a machine capable of executing a trillion floating-point operations per second.

Officials and employees, Computer industry, Biographies, Management Style, Entrepreneur, Biography, Burkhardt, Henry, III, Kendall Square Research Corp.

---

Supercomputer experts predict expansive growth

Article Abstract:

Supercomputers, minisupercomputers and graphics supercomputers are fast becoming commonplace and have become available to larger technical and scientific communities. They are being used for environmental research, AIDS research and simulation. Soon they may be used for financial decision-making, with the help of artificial intelligence software. Technologies like high-speed graphics systems and networks, more uniform operating systems and sophisticated compilers, parallel processing and gallium arsenide chips will make supercomputers more accessible and efficient. The market for supercomputers, minicomputers and parallel machines is expected to reach $3.62 billion in 1992 compared to $1.36 billion in 1988. Supercomputer technology could determine whether the US or Japan will be the world leader in technology and economics in the next century.

Technological forecasting, Product introduction, Three dimensional graphics, Parallel processing, Modeling, Data modeling software, Simulation, Three-Dimensional Graphics, Performance Measurement, Software architectures, Future of Computing, Interactive Systems, Gallium Arsenide Semiconductor, New Technique, Software Architecture

---

Building a supercomputer in a flash: San Francisco effort falls short of speed goal, but ignites imaginations

Article Abstract:

The goal of flash mob that came together on 3 April, 2004 at the university of San Francisco's Koret athletic center in order to run the Linpack benchmark, a standard method of assessing the speed of supercomputers, to achieve a speed of at least 403 gigaflops (billion floating points operators per second) was not reached. The entire process to develop a supercomputer that could earn a place on the list of world's fastest supercomputers is described.

Electronic Computer Manufacturing, Science & research, California, Digital Computers, Super, Research, University of San Francisco

Similar abstracts:

• Abstracts: Make your plant the model of efficiency. Linux woos industrial users. Speeding new process developments
• Abstracts: The revolution in systems engineering. The defensive design of printed-circuit boards. Superconductor ICs: the 100-GHz second generation
• Abstracts: Water both cools and lubricates gearbox: power transmissions which work immersed in water help the disabled, provide toys for the rich, and offer new opportunities in marine and offshore engineering
• Abstracts: The bearable lightness of microgravity. The incredible shrinking process. Breaking ground on the fuel cell frontier
• Abstracts: Casting goes green and economical. Integrated control pushes up accuracy. Why bearing failure needn't be bad

This website is not affiliated with document authors or copyright owners. This page is provided for informational purposes only. Unintentional errors are possible.