Unmatched: Celebrating David Barkai’s vision
Seven years ago, on September 7, 2017, at 6 PM, I met David Barkai at Peet’s Coffee in the Stonestown Galleria. It was a pivotal moment in my journey. I shared the vision of NextSilicon with him, and his excitement and encouragement meant the world to me. David was the very first person I reached out to within the HPC community, and I feel incredibly blessed that he was open to tutoring me and educating me about this remarkable world of supercomputing.
David’s knowledge, mentorship, and generosity of spirit have had a lasting impact on me and NextSilicon's journey.
Today, I’m thrilled to celebrate his incredible contribution to the HPC community with his new book, Unmatched: 50 Years of Supercomputing.
This book is a fascinating exploration of the technological journey of HPC, organized into five epoch-defining themes: vector processors, multiprocessors, microprocessors, clusters, and accelerators/cloud computing. David offers a unique perspective, blending technical insights with personal anecdotes, and he highlights how supercomputing has revolutionized industries from weather modeling to life sciences. Notably, David discusses emerging trends shaping HPC’s future, including AI-targeted chips, quantum computing, and innovative processors like those developed by NextSilicon, which he praises for their adaptive architecture and dynamic optimization capabilities.
(From Unmatched: 50 Years of Supercomputing. By David Barkai)
As I reflect on that first meeting with David, I’m reminded of how his vision and mentorship have been an inspiring part of NextSilicon’s journey. With Maverick-2, we are carrying forward the ethos of innovation that David and other foundational leaders in supercomputing embody. Our Intelligent Compute Accelerator represents a leap forward in how we approach high-performance computing. By enabling researchers to work without the constraints of using domain-specific languages (DSLs) that create vendor lock-in and providing unprecedented flexibility through adaptive optimization, Maverick-2 is designed to tackle the challenges David so often spoke about—pushing the boundaries of what’s possible in both HPC and AI. His encouragement has always been a reminder to never stop questioning how we can better serve this amazing community and the future we are building for them. David's book is a celebration of the people, ideas, and breakthroughs that have shaped HPC over the past 50 years, and it’s an essential read for anyone passionate about this field.
Order your copy here
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About the Author:
Elad Raz is the founder and CEO of NextSilicon, a company pioneering a radically new approach to HPC architecture that drives the industry forward by solving its biggest, most fundamental problems.
