Gropp Co-Founds ACM High Performance Computing Group

University of Illinois computer science professor Bill Gropp was one of the driving forces behind the launch of a new ACM Special Interest Group on High Performance Computing. Gropp and several others founded the group to address the needs of students, faculty, and practitioners of high performance computing. SIGHPC is the first such group within a major professional society to address this emerging and important topic in computing.

Computer Science Professor William Gropp

SIGHPC's mission is to help spread the use of HPC, raise the standards of the profession, and ensure a rich and rewarding career for people involved in the field. The HPC community includes a wide range of individuals and organizations engaged in studying, developing, teaching, and supporting high performance computers, storage, networking, and software. It also encompasses people who apply HPC across a broad spectrum of scientific, engineering, and business domains. SIGHPC focuses on HPC in the broadest sense, spanning the full range of high-performance technologies, systems, and applications. 

SIGHPC will help address this challenge for professionals and students alike by:
•    disseminating research and experiences by those using computing resources to tackle our society's toughest problems;
•    promoting the mentoring and education of the next generation of HPC professionals; and
•    serving as a source of information about the field to the larger computing and scientific communities.

Gropp serves on the transitional leadership team of the new Special Interest Group, and is also the group’s first newsletter editor. The group will be chaired by Cherri Pancake, Professor at Oregon State University. The transitional leadership team includes Becky Verastegui (Oak Ridge National Lab), Jeff Hollingsworth (University of Maryland), John West (Department of Defense), and Barbara Horner-Miller (University of Alaska – Fairbanks).
Membership is available internationally to those participating or interested in high performance computing. Prospective members may join SIGHPC online at http;//sighpc.org.