Thierry van der Pyl and European HPCN trends

As Europe competes in today's global marketplace and strives to influence high-tech research and development, leaders of the European Commission must determine strategic areas of research and development and successfully support and finance projects in these areas. To this end, the EC has set up Framework Programs to define central R&D areas and draft a five-year budget for each program. As the end of the current program, FP4, draws near, those involved with the EC are busy planning for FP5, set to start in 1999. One influential EC voice belongs to Thierry Van der Pyl, head of the HPCN unit in the EC Program on Information Technologies (Esprit). He has been with the Commission since 1984 and has helped shape Europe's HPC R&D programs. The author considers how HPC is a central factor in European research. She considers a user-friendly model, the new networking dimension and the five main Esprit HPCN research areas.