["Wake Up,
by
Ladies and gentlemen, members of the Hamburg Parliament, Professor Moyer, Professor Ulbrich.
In the name of the Senate of the Free and Hanoveric City of Hamburg, I would like to
welcome you to our city hall, the Warthaus.
Dr. Stauperfeld, our Senator for Science and Research, has asked me to extend her warmest
greetings to you as well.
Ladies and gentlemen, it is the fourth time in a row that the International Supercomputing
Conference is taking place in Hamburg.
And I think there is a good reason for this.
Calculating has a long tradition here, and the mercantile city of Hamburg has lived from
trade since time immemorial.
Today, too, this metropolitan area is one of the most economically promising regions
in Europe, and the business community apparently feels very comfortable in our midst.
Hamburg considers itself to be the German gate to the world.
The international flow of goods passing through the port of Hamburg has not only given us
an outstanding economic ties, it has also made us into a leading cosmopolitan metropolis,
especially in the media and also in the IT sector.
By inviting you today to this Senate reception here in our city hall, we want to show how
much we appreciate your work.
You, ladies and gentlemen, make vital contributions to the development of our modern society.
Cutting-edge research would be virtually inconceivable without high-performance scientific computing.
In innumerable cases, it is HPSC that makes precise calculations possible to begin with.
With its help, complex systems can be simulated, immense quantities of measurement data can
be processed, and extremely precise modeling can be accomplished.
Supercomputers calculate weather conditions for the coming days, so how galaxies can be
formed, simulate crash tests to the automobile industry, detect what is perpetrated on the
sea floor by ship propellers, and help us to develop new medications.
Ladies and gentlemen, high-performance and supercomputers are indispensable tools in
research, especially in natural sciences and the life and engineering sciences, but also
in technology-oriented companies.
The more powerful computers, algorithms, and programs are, the more precisely it is possible
to calculate, model, or simulate, and the more exact are the research results that serve
the basis for new findings.
And this is exactly what today's knowledge societies need.
At the same time, for poor and natural resources like Germany, we need to rely on our knowledge
for it is an integral part of our innovative strengths.
We need innovations if we are able to assert ourselves in the face of international competition.
By holding today's Senate reception here at the Rathaus, the free and Hanseatic city of Hamburg is
making a statement, thus declaring that the generation of knowledge and thus HPSC itself are of the
highest priority for us.
Ladies and gentlemen, Hamburg's university and research landscape covers a broad spectrum of fields
and most importantly is highly effective.
We are especially successful in climate research, the nano-sciences, and the research infectious diseases.
We have had great successes recently within the framework of the excellence initiative of the
Germans, federal and state governments, with the CLISAP and the IHC-UI clusters.
As you know, we achieve top performance in the HPSC sectors and this is a tradition.
An electronic computing department was established at the Center for Scientific Computing at the
University of Hamburg as early as 1958.
At the time, this was the only institution for IT services that had been established at a German
university and a decision that showed true foresight.
Since 1993, the Hamburg High-Speed Computer Network, HHR, now in its third generation, has enabled
successful collaborations between Hamburg's universities and non-university research institutions like
DAISY. It facilitates the rapid exchange of large amounts of data and is also linked with the German
National Research Network. This organization in turn is seamlessly integrated in the European and
worldwide association of research and science networks and is also linked with the internet.
The HHR thus also helps to make an exchange on a global level feasible.
Also important for Hamburg and for the entire North German region is the North German Supercomputing
Alliance HLRN, which Hamburg founded in 2021 together with other German states in the northern
part of our country. Hamburg's investment has paid off. We have profited considerably
from the establishment of the HLRN Alliance.
Excellent research results were achieved with the help of supercomputing, including the
nano-spin-tronics and the extrasolar planets projects of the University of Hamburg.
Furthermore, the network is extremely useful in the field of engineering research.
For example, innovative construction methods have been developed for key walls in the harbour
and important findings have also been obtained regarding the reduction of the formation of sediment
in the harbour basin, a problem which we have in our harbour. And in the coming year, the next
generation of the HLRN system will go online. Last but not least, Hamburg can pride itself in
being the location of the German Climate Computing Centre. This is the home of the Blizzard and IBM
Power6 supercomputer for all system research with a peak performance of 158 teraflops and the
tornado computer cluster, which is jointly operated by the Climate Computing Centre and the
Max Planck Institute for Metrology and has a peak performance of 10 teraflops.
At present, we in Hamburg are preoccupied in the following. To gain an even better position
nationally and internationally in regard to excellence in research, we need to ensure that
innovative information and communication technologies are provided to the universities
in Hamburg. This is a great strategic significance. This includes the potential for the universities
to develop IT solutions on their own. Ladies and gentlemen, the list could go on and on of course,
but you already get the point. We here in Hamburg care very much about HPSC and this is why we are
so pleased that the 27th ISC is taking place here in Hamburg too. More than a quarter of a century
of the ISC is truly an eternity if one thinks in the astonishing speed with which hardware for
high performance scientific community is developed and the fact that the ISC is now our guest in
Hamburg for the fourth time makes us very proud indeed. In the name of the Senate of the Free and
Hanseatic City of Hamburg, let me wish you a successful conference and most enjoyable stay in
Hamburg. Thank you very much. Dear State Secretary Dr. Troop, dear Professor Moyer,
ladies and gentlemen, on behalf of the University of Hamburg, I would like to welcome you to the
reception of the Senate of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg. The University of Hamburg,
founded in 1919, is the largest and leading university in Hamburg, serving more than
40,000 students. It provides a wide range of courses, approximately 170 degree programs offered
by six faculties. Most disciplines on our campus are also associated to the faculty of mathematics,
informatics and natural sciences. For example, on the so-called Klima Campus, 18 different
institutes of the University of Hamburg, as well as non-university partners such as the Max Planck
Institute of Meteorology, the Helmholtz Center, and the German Climate Computing Center are
collaborating in the field of climate research. We are proud to inform you that as a result of the
German Federal Excellence Initiative, the cluster of excellence integrated climate system analysis
and prediction, called CLISEP, currently has got the commitment to be continued further five years.
Furthermore, a new cluster of excellence, Hamburg Center for Ultrafast Imaging, CUI,
where real-time explorations on the molecular level are investigated, will receive funding for five years.
For the University of Hamburg, high performance computing plays an important role at the
University of Hamburg, especially in the excellent fields of research, such as the Klima Campus
with its nucleus, CLISEP, but also for the departments of geosciences, astrophysics,
physics, chemistry, biology, and bioinformatics. For this reason, we rely on the availability of
adequate HPC infrastructure and services on the following three levels.
Level one, sustainable development of the Gauss Center of Computing. By the way,
my congratulations to the Supermuk, it's the LRC in Garching for rank four on the new top
hundred list, which is now the most performing computer in Europe. Level two,
availability of resources in the Gauss Alliance. In this context, I would like to mention
two North German members which are associated with an important for Hamburg, which both were
already mentioned by Dr. Krupp, the German Climate Computing Center and the North German
Supercomputing Alliance. Currently, we in Hamburg participate in planning the search generation of
the HLRN. And now the third level, HPC systems and competence at the computer centers of the
universities to support computational science and engineering and complementing the resources of
level one and two. At the moment, the University of Hamburg at the Regional Computer Center,
where I am responsible for, and the Hamburg University of Technology are working on a
coordinated Hamburg-wide concept to increase the provision of HPC capacities for compute
and also data intensive research. However, to exploit advanced techniques of high performance
computing, networking and storage, it is a requirement to complement interdisciplinary
research, support and development. In this context, we are proud to say that the Hamburg
Research and Science Foundation is funding the start of a so-called Lauter Collard School
for Computing and Science for three years, beginning this year. Experts of mathematics,
informatics, natural and engineering sciences are collaborating in the Collard Center at the
University of Hamburg with associated partners from the Hamburg University of Technology.
In particular, we have to investigate the complete computer-supported process chain
to achieve progress in optimization of the process of discovery. This has to be based on an
holistic approach which incorporates all the networked processing modules, not only of
simulation, but also storage, data analysis, visualization and interaction cycles. For example,
an NZ2 parallel data extraction and streaming 3D visualization developed in my group
to large-scale and steady application scenarios. This field of competence is also part of the
second phase of the Cluster of Excellence CLISAP. Finally, I hope I could give you an
impression about the commitment of the University of Hamburg and the field of computational science
and engineering. Of course, all the mentioned activities are not possible without adequate
support. In particular, sufficient state funding but also external third-party funding.
Besides others, the increasing strategic significance of innovative IT infrastructures
and services for excellent research given the international competition has to be appreciated
also by politics. Therefore, I am glad to learn from the statement of Dr. Krupp explicitly
mentioning the necessity for the Hamburg University to develop IT solutions on their own.
As one consequence, this requires the inclusion of strategic university IT demands in the IT
strategy of the free and handiatic city of Hamburg as well as the responsibility of well-equipped
university computer centers for the research, network and all layers of IT services which are
simply required and expected by the scientists as a high-quality environment to support efficient
collaboration and competitive research in a worldwide community. On behalf of the University
of Hamburg, I hope you had an interesting conference so far and a good time in our beautiful
city. Last but not least, I wish Professor Moyer continued success of his ISC conference
which will take place on a new location in Leipzig next year. Thank you for your attention.
Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for coming tonight and especially thank the
cenate of the free and handiatic city of Hamburg to invite our ISC conference tonight in this
beautiful, really beautiful surrounding.
I am also very grateful to Dr. Krupp and the cenate that they have allowed us to do a special
awarding tonight since we will get two new ISC fellows. Our conference now is in the 27th year
and we have six ISC fellows so far and we'll get two new ones today especially since we are
moving to another place this is the right choice we have made. ISC fellows too may recognize some
of them or those who have a golden pin here on the jacket, Kalkaise, Satoshi Matsuoka and
many others not many others but up to six and today we will have two new ones
who is recognized as an ISC fellow. This is in recognition of his or her long standing
and significant contributions to ISC. Today we have two new ISC fellows and let me name
them in alphabetical order. The first one is Professor Dr. Jack Dongara.
And the second one is Professor Dr. Ludwig.
Please allow me to say a few words, a short Laodard show to both of them. Jack Dongara
is university distinguished professor of computer science at the University of Tennessee and he
holds a position as a distinguished research staff member at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
What has he done for ISC? Jack is one of the participants who made it the longest time.
He attended this was invited in the second meeting we had in Mannheim that was not named
in the national supercomputing conference but seminar and I invited him to give a talk and okay
he talked about Linpak at this time 25 years ago and I believe Jack you know it even
better than me. You have attended our meeting our ISC conference for I guess 20
times or so. Okay and Jack is the older he is becoming the more he is involved in
many things. Let me just give you this year's activities of Jack. He is has given two talks
or is going to moderate a panel discussion tomorrow and a session tomorrow. He was involved
in a tutorial with two colleagues one of his guys and one from Taus and so he's doing a lot of
things it's unbelievable how active Jack is. I would claim that Jack is Mr. supercomputing
of the western world. Okay I would like to add Thomas Sterling and Ross Simon if you allow Jack.
Okay as another we have already Mr. supercomputing from Asia as a ISC fellow that Satoshi Matsuoka.
Okay and in Europe it is not clear who will be the Mr. supercomputing they are finding
about this position. Okay that's for the first what I have to say to to Jack.
The second ISC new ISC fellow is Professor Dr. Thomas Ludwig. Thomas is a professor
at the University of Hamburg and it was mentioned before at the famous
German Climate Research Center. Okay and he is doing many things for ISC even in the time he
was not yet in Hamburg when he was in Heidelberg there he was professor he was the chair of our
famous hot seed sessions in the version we had before we are now starting a new format and the
most important thing that is following that he is now for the fourth time here in Hamburg the
in the first year you have been in Heidelberg still but not in Hamburg but you did the job as
research paper committee chairman for four years and that is excellent what you have done together
with your guy without okay he is your left and your right hand and Julian did a great job for you
for us thank you for that. Now I have a little surprise for you since tonight when I asked the
two guys to come up on stage I have a special assistant and the name of this special assistant
he came in this morning from London is Lord Laird member of the House of Lords and he will do the
voting together with me so if you ask me are you crazy that you now have a lord as an assistant
I have to tell you what is the reason what I have to do with Lord Laird his friend and guy also
working for him Kevin Cahill is attending regularly our ISC conference and he is telling Lord Laird
what is going on in high performance computer Lord Laird is not an HPC expert I would say
but when he was young he's still young of course but as he was really young he was a programmer at
Belfast saving banks and I asked him today when visiting a couple of sessions what was the
language you were programmed he said I expected couple no it was basic so he is a programmer or
has been a programmer and at the beginning of this year I became an invitation by Lord Laird to give
on April 18th a lecture a special lecture the Lorraine King Memorial lecture
in the House of Lords you can imagine that I'm becoming very nervous but I of course accepted
this honorable invitation and I gave a lecture on supercomputers prestige objects or crucial tools
for science and industry question mark and I guess they appreciated the lecture we had a long
discussion but what made me very nervous at the beginning was that Lord Laird told me you can
tell them everything I was in front of hundreds of his colleagues but please what you not can do
is to die during your lecture it is not allowed to die in the House of Lords by law later on he
will explain what is the reason behind that okay so I have introduced Lord Laird and now I would ask
to the two Jack I have not told you that you are awarded by your Lord otherwise you would have
tie with you okay Jack is coming Thomas is coming Lord Laird is coming and he is my assistant
and Lord Laird also has a female assistant Katherine
so let me do the awarding please just to certificate we start with Jack Dongara
ISC fellow professor Dr Jack Dongara is hereby conferred the title ISC fellow
in recognition of his long-standing and significant contribution to the international
supercomputing conference ISC the title ISC fellow grants a lifelong privilege to
attend all events free of charge wherever they may be held yeah that is the most involved
now I ask Thomas Ludwig Thomas I also read this is in the same sense professor Dr Thomas Ludwig
director and CEO Deutscher Schliemann-Reichensen Hamburg Germany is hereby conferred the title ISC
fellow in recognition of his long-standing and significant contribution to the international
supercomputing conference the title ISC fellow grants a lifelong privilege to attend all ISC
events free of charge wherever they may help even if you go to Hanover
you are
the golden sticks now will be put on their jackets and
chairs by Katherine
Jack will start with a few words how very few words very few words then Thomas and then by the
end lord left will tell you what is behind this not dying in the house of lords is allowed
well I'd just like to thank Hans and Prometheus and the whole ISC organization for this honor
I've known Hans for many years some of you may not know that the ISC conference you know in the
US we have SC and we think of SC as the the father conference for supercomputing but this
conference here is actually older two years two years older than the SC conference so Hans
that really is quite an honor and I hope it goes on for many more years thank you so much for this
award
Hans thank you very much for that honor it's always an inspiring conference but Hans I would like
to have a second certificate here because I find that I'm not only a fellow but I'm the only
follower so in 2001 because of that conference is so inspiring he went to Heidelberg so I thought
well let's go to Heidelberg and then you moved away just when I was there and in Dresden our
friend Wolfgang Nagel hadn't had a position for me so I had to wait some time then you went to
Hamburg I followed you as a follower now you move away uh but I checked with my vice president he
said I cannot leave I have some duties here so sorry for sorry for Leipzig we will see thank you
very much
Lord Lett has written a book and is handing the book to the guys assigned book and now Lord
Lett it's your uh your turn to give some words to the audience thank you uh ladies and gentlemen
can you hear me all right oh dear bad luck I am very humble at being invited along here tonight
to this important ceremony and to recognize the work of two eminent academics in the field of
computing I'm very pleased uh that Lord Moyer that's perhaps the portent of this is Freudian
slip Lord Moyer Professor Moyer Professor Moyer has invited me here I certainly invited him to
the house of lords and I have to say that I thought the house of lords was beautiful
until I came to this place look at this it's fantastic
I expected not knowing Professor Moyer I expected and please don't take this the wrong way around
I expected a very focused academic
with no amusement no fun
like some academics but one
took the meeting that I had the privilege of chairing by storm he took it by storm
and took a topic which which some people believed could be rather boring believe it or not
supercomputers made it interesting and provided one of the best nights entertainment that we've
had in the lords for a long time I know we live a sheltered life but still it was the best nights
entertainment the queen came around two weeks later and she didn't get the reception that
and she's also of German extraction anyway uh I did have to warn very formally the entire
audience I always have to do this and of course in particular our guest speaker that it is against
British law to die in the houses of parliament I explained to him that if he began to feel unwell
or in fact if anybody began to feel unwell if they'd let their next door neighbor know
then we could drag them outside and let them expire quietly on the sidewalk
but this is it I also explained to them that were anybody including the good professor to break the
law as far as I'm concerned if they died in the house of lords they'd be dragged through every
court in the land they're minimal to law and I for one will certainly not invite them around to
the lords again there is a very serious point here the house of lords is a royal palace
and if you die you'll be allowed to die there or royalty if you die there
you get a state funeral I know there's not much money in the EU but I don't think that you good
any good German taxpayers here would like to pay for a royal funeral for for one of your citizens
going through the central London so the arrangement was that nobody died and you'd be very pleased
that that worked out on the night
now as the good professor has said I had a period as a programmer away back in the 1960s
I was selected for I was selected from a group of bank people to go from Belfast my native city
to Manchester to train to be a programmer and I remember the October evening at Belfast airport
the six of us sitting there October 1968 and for something to do we tried to visualize
what a computer would look like we couldn't
a computer next
the factor borrows
the first words that the lecture said he said to us all because he'd given us all nice
clean notebooks he said write this down
only mistakes are made by programmers and we carefully in our long hand like kindergarten
kids wrote this on what was really our exercise book and for a year I damn near believed it
but it just shows you how things have changed I had punch cards in those days
we used to there was no computer in Belfast similar to the one in Belfast and every fortnight
we gathered all our stuff up and went to London to work overnight to check our programs there
I mean it's unbelievable what is now available I'm no longer involved in computers except taking
an interest as a British politician but you know you guys and everybody else involved
in the world of computers it is a world and one thing that I learned today
at the lectures was how everybody's got to work together and that's a great model for life
people who don't usually work together to get the best out of their supercomputers have got to work
together but when you think of the power of those machines nowadays when you think what we can do
to save lives save money just generally help mankind and let me say mankind needs a lot of
help right now we're faced by some dreadful questions and I'm really pleased really
staggered when I learned today about what is what the possibilities are what can happen
just let me finally once again say I'm very humble to be here tonight
very humble to be the guest of Professor Moyer very humble to be involved in this little ceremony
I wish you all well and I look forward to seeing you again sometime thank you very much
so
much