H P C w i r e The Text-on-Demand E-zine for High Performance Computing *** Nov. 10, 1995: Vol. 4, No. 45 Circulation: 18,149 *** This Week's Table of Contents Represents 173 Pages of Text ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Article Retrieval instructions at end of this file more@hpcwire.tgc.com For a free 4-week trial subscription, email trial@hpcwire.tgc.com -------------------- * -------------------- 7103) CRAY RESEARCH PRESENTS AUTOMATION SOLUTIONS LIVE FROM AUTOFACT '95 CRAY J90 systems accelerate design, engineering, and manufacturing CS6400 enterprise servers support automation with database solutions _______________________________ IN THIS ISSUE _____________________________ | | | 8061) FEATURES: MRJ INC. WINS 5-YEAR $39 MILLION NASA CONTRACT | | 8063) SCIENCE NEWS: A CASE STUDY IN VIRTUAL ENGINE TESTING | | 8064) NEWS BRIEFS: THINKING MACHINES POISED FOR RE-EMERGENCE | |___________________________________________________________________________| FEATURES ==================================================================== Lines 8058) HIGHLIGHTS OF LATEST NAS BENCHMARK RESULTS..........................225 Commentary by Norris Parker Smith, editor-at-large Selected performance and price/performance figures from the latest NAS Parallel Benchmarks on systems from Cray, DEC, Fujitsu, IBM, NEC, and SGI. The differences are often narrow, but SMP designs win on price/performance and the new NEC SX-4 does well overall. 8059) PHANTOM HAPTIC INTERFACE ADDS TOUCH TO HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION...223 Special to HPCwire by Dr. Kenneth Salisbury Reminiscent of a miniature Luxo Lamp with a thimble on the end and built to give the sensation of fingertip interactions with a wide variety of computer-generated objects, Phantom Haptic Interface promises to change the way we work with computers and ideas. 8060) HITS & HISSES: BENCHMARKS AGAIN, FAB COSTS, AND JELL-O..............195 Compiled by Norris Parker Smith, editor-at-large A catch-up Hits & Hisses discusses (once again) the NAS benchmarks, the huge costs of fab lines manufacturing computer chips versus the less burdensome R&D costs involved in designing and developing new chips, and the difficulties of finding metaphors comprehensible on a global basis. 8061) MRJ INC. WINS 5-YEAR $39 MILLION NASA CONTRACT.......................68 by Alan Beck, associate editor Principal research conducted under this NASA contract includes network enhancement, visualization and modeling of space vehicle design, and development of parallel software with an IBM SP emphasis. SCIENCE & ENGINEERING NEWS 8062) TYING IT ALL TOGETHER WITH SUPERSTRINGS.............................107 Special to HPCwire by Margaret Corbit, CTC Science Writer Advanced visualization technology is allowing researchers to explore the esoteric geometries which may link matter's deepest recesses to black holes. Are they finally on the verge of seeing the universe's most basic structure? 8063) CASE STUDY: VIRTUAL TESTING EXPECTED TO IMPROVE ENGINE DESIGN.......101 Special to HPCwire by Lech Jasinski & Ian Martin The Perkins Group is developing a method by which it can test virtual engines entirely through modeling and simulation on a "virtual supercomputer" created from RISC boxes. Top engineers discuss the process. QUOTE OF THE WEEK =========================================================== 8064) "The market spoke loud and clear, and told this company that building some of the world's fastest computers was not, by itself, enough to sustain growth." -- Robert L. Doretti, Thinking Machines' president and CEO ____________________________INDUSTRY SPOTLIGHT_____________________________ | 7101) Come to Digital's Free High-Performance Computing Seminar Nov. 7 | | 7097) Client/Server Data-Serving for High Performing Computer Industry | | 7102) The Journal PARALLEL COMPUTING Now Covers Applications | | 7084) SPECIAL SUPPLEMENT: Interoperability, The GII & The NII | | 7095) Sony Integrator--Tri-Plex Systems Corp.--Delivers Highest- | | Performance Tape Storage Solution for Intel Paragon(tm) | | 7081) Find Out What's Happening at SC '95! http://sc95.sdsc.edu/SC95 | |___________________________________________________________________________| NEWS BRIEFS ================================================================= 8064) Thinking Machines Files Plan to Emerge from Bankruptcy Protection..42 8065) IBM Dismisses Reports of Discontinuing Single System Image for SP2.67 8066) Nippon Telegraph & Telephone Picks Cray T90 for Multimedia Research23 8067) SDSC Releases Windows-based Software to Explore 3-D Macromolecules.63 8068) Maui HPCC Test Results Positive for Sybase MPP on IBM RS/6000......32 8069) NCSA Will Run Supercomputer Applications From Remote Site to SC 95.93 8070) ICE Puts Desktop RealTime Engine Superstation Through Its Paces....64 8071) SDSC Team Will Construct 2.3 Gb/s Network for SC '95 and Beyond....69 8072) Informix Online Dynamic Server 7.1 Benchmarks at 6,313.78 tpmC.....20 SHORT TAKES 8073) Product Watch: 200-Mhz, 64-bit UltraSPARC-I Announced.............250 8074) Pentium Pro Round-up: More Vendors Support Intel's New Processor...88 8075) Financial Update: Quantum Cuts 140 Jobs. Ross IPO Volume Upped....150 8076) Corporate Liaisons: IBM-Risk Management Forge Data Warehouse Deal.143 8077) People, Promotions & Appointments: Power I/O CEO Named Adaptec COO.78 JOB BANK ==================================================================== 667) Employment Opportunities.........................................139 From: Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center, Cornell Supercomputing Center, Madentech Consulting, Nichols Research, IBM, Hewlett-Packard, * Fujitsu 604) Job Bank Rates and Regulations....................................92 CONFERENCES ================================================================= 2888) Calendar of Upcoming HPC Events (Updated Nov. 9)..................185 HPCwire INFORMATION ========================================================= 7000) Subscription Information/Get On-Off Mailing List/Letters to the Editor Back Issue Index/Masthead, Email Contacts, Submission Tips..........9 ______________________H P C w i r e S P O N S O R S______________________ | | | Full background information on all Sponsoring Companies | | | | 912) Avalon Computer 915) Genias Software 905) MAXIMUM STRATEGY| | 934) Convex Computer Corp. 930) HNSX Supercomputers 916) MasPar Computer | | 921) Cray Research Inc. 902) IBM Corp. 932) Portland Group | | 909) Fujitsu 904) Intel Corp. 935) Silicon Graphics| | *936) Sony | |__________________*Updated information within last 30 days_________________| *** LAST ISSUE'S MOST REQUESTED ITEMS FROM HPCwire *** 8042) 200 MHZ INTEL PENTIUM PRO BENCHMARKS AT 366 SPECINT92...............156 8056) SGI COMMENTS ABOUT FUJITSU ECMWF WIN MISS THE MARK...................41 8036) HARSH TRICKS & SCARCE TREATS FOR HPC VENDORS........................210 8037) ARPA ISSUES $3.5 MILLION CONTRACT FOR DEVELOPMENT OF TERA'S MTA......69 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~