Visiting Innovation Professor to discuss the future of computers

[img_inline align=”right” src=”http://padnws01.mcmaster.ca/images/Pulleyblank.jpg” caption=”Bill Pulleyblank, McMaster’s inaugural Visiting Innovation Professor (VIP) will deliver a free public lecture Oct. 18 on The Future of Computing. File photo.”]Imagine if every 18 months we were able to buy a car that could perform twice as efficiently, operate at twice its optimum speed and better yet, cost half the price of its predecessors.

Now consider this: over the last 60 years, computers have evolved consistently at that rate — every 18 to 24 months they're twice as fast, have double the storage and are easily half as cheap as the model before.

Bill Pulleyblank uses the car versus computer analogy to illustrate the breakneck pace of the modern computer age — a phenomenon that has impacted the way we live, the way we do business and the way universities like McMaster do research.

Pulleyblank, an IBM vice-president, is uniquely positioned in the world of supercomputers, enjoying a career that has spanned nearly two-thirds of the modern computer age.

The McMaster community will have a ringside seat when he visits campus this week as McMaster's inaugural Visiting Innovation Professor (VIP) and can enjoy his reflections on the progress of the computer industry and hear him speculate on “What's next?” in a free public lecture on Thursday, Oct. 18 at 7:30 p.m. in the Information Technology Building, Room 137.

A graduate of the universities of Calgary and Waterloo, Pulleyblank is best known as one of the leaders of the Blue Gene project that resulted in the Blue Gene/L, the most powerful supercomputer in the world. Capable of trillions of operations a second (that's a number with 12 zeros!), supercomputers like those developed by IBM's Blue Gene program tackle a vast array of complex problems.

“It's dramatic what we're able to do with supercomputers — we can understand how a drug works, construct materials that have amazing properties, calculate how nuclear stockpiles degrade or develop a solar panel that's 10 times more efficient — can you imagine the effect that would have on global energy?” says Pulleyblank.

We can harness the astonishing power of computers to improve our daily lives, but Pulleyblank acknowledges there are significant challenges ahead.

“We're pushing the limits of parallel computing and while we're ahead of the curve there are some very practical aspects with regards to cost, space, power consumption — it might take $5-6 million a year in electricity to keep a supercomputer running. There are also issues with how to keep them cool enough so they don't melt into the floor,” explains Pulleyblank, whose personal research interests are in combinatorial optimization and operations research.

Pulleyblank acknowledges that supercomputers like Blue Gene/L are truly breakthrough accomplishments with overwhelming benefits, but the industry has to safeguard against their exploitation and notes that advances in areas such as nuclear power or security systems require global vigilance.

“The problems have more to do with how we as human beings use the power of the computer. We can use computers to make this world a better place,” says Pulleyblank.

This free public lecture will provide the audience a chance to hear Pulleyblank's reflections on the progress of the computer industry, the problems and potential solutions it faces and what the future holds.

The lecture takes place at 7:30 p.m. in the Information Technology Building (ITB), Room 137. Parking will be free for those entering campus after 7 p.m. via the Main Street or Cootes Drive entrances.