High Performance Computing for Science and Engineering in the Department of Defense

Computing has changed science and engineering since the introduction of the first general-purpose scientific computer in 1946, the Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer (ENIAC), produced by the University of Pennsylvania for the Army. The ENIAC was created for studying the science of ballistics and for the development, testing, and fielding of Army ordnance. Since that time computing has provided access to larger parameter spaces for design, more cases analyzed in a given unit of time or budget, and access to phenomena not measurable or to conditions not accessible to experimentation. Science and engineering continue to change computing, creating demand for ever larger and faster platforms, illuminating new phenomena that lead to new materials, components, fabrication techniques, architectures, and entirely new types of computing. We describe the Department of Defense High Performance Computing Modernization Program, its impact on problem solving, and on our primary customer, the Warfighter.