SUPERCOMPUTING AND AMERICAN TECHNOLOGY LEADERSHIP

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by  Committee on Science, Space, and Technology

SUPERCOMPUTING AND AMERICAN
TECHNOLOGY LEADERSHIP
HEARING
BEFORETHE
SUBCOMMITTEE ON ENERGY
COMMITTEE ON SCIENCE, SPACE, AND
TECHNOLOGY
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
ONE HUNDRED FOURTEENTH CONGRESS
FIRST SESSION
JANUARY 28, 2015
Serial No. 114–03
Printed for the use of the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology
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COMMITTEE ON SCIENCE, SPACE, AND TECHNOLOGY
HON. LAMAR S. SMITH, Texas, Chair
FRANK D. LUCAS, Oklahoma EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON, Texas
F. JAMES SENSENBRENNER, JR. ZOE LOFGREN, California
DANA ROHRABACHER, California DANIEL LIPINSKI, Illinois
RANDY NEUGEBAUER, Texas DONNA F. EDWARDS, Maryland
MICHAEL T. MCCAUL FREDERICA S. WILSON, Florida
STEVEN M. PALAZZO, Mississippi SUZANNE BONAMICI, Oregon
MO BROOKS, Alabama ERIC SWALWELL, California
RANDY HULTGREN, Illinois ALAN GRAYSON, Florida
BILL POSEY, Florida AMI BERA, California
THOMAS MASSIE, Kentucky ELIZABETH H. ESTY, Connecticut
JIM BRIDENSTINE, Oklahoma MARC A. VEASEY, Texas
RANDY K. WEBER, Texas KATHERINE M. CLARK, Massachusetts
BILL JOHNSON, Ohio DON S. BEYER, JR., Virginia
JOHN R. MOOLENAAR, Michigan ED PERLMUTTER, Colorado
STEVE KNIGHT, California PAUL TONKO, New York
BRIAN BABIN, Texas MARK TAKANO, California
BRUCE WESTERMAN, Arkansas BILL FOSTER, Illinois
BARBARA COMSTOCK, Virginia
DAN NEWHOUSE, Washington
GARY PALMER, Alabama
BARRY LOUDERMILK, Georgia
SUBCOMMITTEE ON ENERGY
HON. RANDY K. WEBER, Texas , Chair
DANA ROHRABACHER, California ALAN GRAYSON, Florida
RANDY NEUGEBAUER, Texas DANIEL LIPINSKI, Illinois
MO BROOKS, Alabama ERIC SWALWELL, California
RANDY HULTGREN, Illinois ELIZABETH H. ESTY, Connecticut
THOMAS MASSIE, Kentucky MARC A. VEASEY, Texas
BARBARA COMSTOCK, Virginia KATHERINE M. CLARK, Massachusetts
DAN NEWHOUSE, Washington EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON, Texas
BARRY LOUDERMILK, Georgia
LAMAR S. SMITH, Texas
(II)
C O N T E N T S
January 28, 2015
Page
Witness List ............................................................................................................. 2
Hearing Charter ...................................................................................................... 3
Opening Statements
Statement by Representative Randy K. Weber, Chairwoman, Subcommittee
on Energy, Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, U.S. House of
Representatives .................................................................................................... 5
Written Statement ............................................................................................ 6
Statement by Representative Eddie Bernice Johnson, Ranking Member, Com-
mittee on Science, Space, and Technology, U.S. House of Representatives .... 6
Written Statement ............................................................................................ 7
Witnesses:
Mr. Norman Augustine, Board Member, Bipartisan Policy Center
Oral Statement ................................................................................................. 9
Written Statement ............................................................................................ 12
Dr. Roscoe Giles, Chairman, DOE Advanced Scientific Computing Advisory
Committee
Oral Statement ................................................................................................. 17
Written Statement ............................................................................................ 19
Mr. David Turek, Vice President, Technical Computing, IBM
Oral Statement ................................................................................................. 50
Written Statement ............................................................................................ 52
Dr. James Crowley, Executive Director, Society for Industrial and Applied
Mathematics
Oral Statement ................................................................................................. 59
Written Statement ............................................................................................ 61
Discussion ................................................................................................................. 66
Appendix I: Answers to Post-Hearing Questions
Mr. Norman Augustine, Board Member, Bipartisan Policy Center .................... 76
Dr. Roscoe Giles, Chairman, DOE Advanced Scientific Computing Advisory
Committee ............................................................................................................. 77
Mr. David Turek, Vice President, Technical Computing, IBM ............................ 82
Dr. James Crowley, Executive Director, Society for Industrial and Applied
Mathematics ......................................................................................................... 86
(III)

SUPERCOMPUTING AND AMERICAN
TECHNOLOGY LEADERSHIP
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 28, 2015
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,
SUBCOMMITTEE ON ENERGY
COMMITTEE ON SCIENCE, SPACE, AND TECHNOLOGY,
Washington, D.C.
The Subcommittee met, pursuant to call, at 9:08 a.m., in Room
2318 of the Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Randy Weber
[Chairman of the Subcommittee] presiding.
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Chairman WEBER. Well, good morning and welcome to today’s
Energy Subcommittee hearing titled ‘‘Supercomputing and Amer-
ican Technology Leadership.’’
The Committee will come to order.
Without objection, the Chair is authorized to declare recesses of
the Subcommittee at any time.
Without objection, the Chair authorizes the participation of Mr.
Lipinski, Mr. Swalwell, Mr. Grayson, Ms. Esty, Mr. Veasey, and
Ms. Clark for today’s hearing. And I understand Ranking Member
Johnson will serve as the Ranking Minority Member today and
give an opening statement a little later.
In front of you are packets containing the written testimonies, bi-
ographies, and truth-in-testimony disclosures for today’s witnesses.
And I recognize myself for five minutes for an opening statement.
At the outset let me say that this is my first Committee hearing
as a Chairman of this Subcommittee and it is truly an honor to be
selected to serve in this capacity. And I want to say a personal
thanks to Chairman Lamar Smith for his help and his guidance.
He has been just a stalwart friend of mine. I really appreciate that.
This Committee will tackle a number of important issues related
to America’s competitiveness and energy future, and I am excited
to be part of these important discussions.
Today, we are going to hear from a distinguished panel of wit-
nesses about the importance of high-performance computing to
American technological competitiveness, specifically focusing on the
Department of Energy’s Advanced Scientific Computing Research
program, also known as the ASCR program within the Office of
Science.
High-performance computing provides a platform for break-
throughs in all scientific research and accelerates applications of
scientific breakthroughs across our economy. Progress in computing
has paved the way for breakthroughs in medical imaging, genetics
research, manufacturing, engineering, and weapons development.
Faster computing speeds have revolutionized the energy sector, im-
proving the efficiency of energy production and aiding in distribu-
tion technologies. Advances in modeling and algorithm develop-
ment offer opportunities for scientific discovery in fields where ex-
periments are too difficult, too costly, or too dangerous to conduct.
They are reducing costs and opening the door to more innovative
discoveries.
The work underway in the ASCR program drives breakthroughs
in high-performance computing. The Department of Energy’s na-
tional labs host world-class computational science facilities, and the
Department funds the applied mathematical and computational
science research that will drive the next stage of advancement in
this field.
As we face the reality of ongoing budget constraints in Wash-
ington, it is our job in Congress to ensure that taxpayer dollars are
spent wisely on innovative research that is in the best national in-
terest and provides the best chance for broad impact and long-term
success. The basic research conducted within the ASCR program
clearly meets this requirement. High-performance computing can
lead to scientific discoveries, economic growth, and will help main-
tain America’s leadership in science and technology.
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I want to thank the witnesses in advance for participating in to-
day’s hearing and look forward to further discussion.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Weber follows:]
PREPAREDSTATEMENTOFSUBOMMITTEECHAIRMANRANDYWEBER
Good morning and welcome to today’s Energy Subcommittee hearing titled
‘‘Supercomputing and American Technology Leadership.’’
Today, we will hear from a distinguished panel of witnesses about the importance
of high performance computing to American technological competitiveness, specifi-
cally focusing on the Department of Energy’s Advanced Scientific Computing Re-
search program, also known as the ‘‘ASCR’’ program within the Office of Science.
High performance computing provides a platform for breakthroughs in all sci-
entific research, and accelerates applications of scientific breakthroughs across our
economy. Progress in computing has paved the way for breakthroughs in medical
imaging, genetics research, manufacturing, engineering, and weapons development.
Faster computing speeds have revolutionized the energy sector, improving the effi-
ciency of energy production and aiding in distribution technologies. Advances in
modeling and algorithm development offer opportunities for scientific discovery in
fields where experiments are too difficult, costly, or dangerous to conduct, reducing
costs and opening the door to more innovative discoveries.
The work underway in the ASCR program drives breakthroughs in high perform-
ance computing. The Department of Energy’s national labs host world-class com-
putational science facilities, and the department funds the applied mathematical
and computational science research that will drive the next stage of advancement
in this field.
As we face the reality of ongoing budget constraints in Washington, it is our job
in Congress to ensure that taxpayer dollars are spent wisely, on innovative research
that is in the national interest, and provides the best chance for broad impact and
long-term success. The basic research conducted within the ASCR program clearly
meets this requirement. High performance computing can lead to scientific discov-
eries, economic growth, and will maintain America’s leadership in science and tech-
nology. I thank the witnesses for participating in today’s hearing and look forward
to further discussion.
Chairman WEBER. I now recognize Ranking Member Johnson for
an opening statement.
Ms. JOHNSON. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman, and I thank
you for holding this hearing. And I want to thank our very excel-
lent panel of witnesses for their testimony and being here today.
America has historically been a leader in advancing new energy
technologies, as well as the fundamental sciences of physics, chem-
istry, engineering, mathematics, and computational science that
support energy innovation. But our leadership in technology is
challenged by the growing investments of other countries in edu-
cation and research, investments that are now predicted to quickly
outpace our own investments here at home.
High-performance computing or supercomputing is one area that
we have led in for decades and the United States currently holds
more than 45 percent of the 500 fastest supercomputers in the
world. These computers are capable of processing vast amounts of
data and mathematical equations at amazing speeds.
In the past, high-performance computers were needed primarily
for specialized scientific and engineering applications. Now, as we
enter the world of big data where thousands of devices all around
us are generating millions of bytes of data to be analyzed, high-per-
formance computing is needed not just by scientists and govern-
ment researchers but by many civic and commercial enterprises as
well.