Sen. Mark Kirk (R-IL) met Monday with National Center for Supercomputer Applications Director Ed Seidel and other industry officials to discuss the Blue Waters supercomputer.
Presentations were also given on cracking HIV capsid, modeling super storms and early cancer detection. Each presenter is a user of Blue Waters, the nation's fastest open science computer.
"I will be working with the Blue Waters team to make sure the nation's fastest open science computer remains in Champaign, Illinois," Kirk said, referencing competition from China.
China has bolstered its use of the world's computing power from 3 to 14 percent within the past decade due to the country's creation of the Tianhe-2 Supercomputer. A decade ago, the U.S. had eight of the top 10 supercomputers, a number that has since dropped to six out of the top 10.
Alerts Sign-up