The Roots of Supercomputing

Every generation of computer engineers create machines that outperform their predecessors. During the Cold War, this competitive spirit shifted into high gear, fueled by the arms race…and government research money.

Since a supercomputer is, by definition, the fastest and most expensive computer available, the market is limited. Supercomputer builders—and buyers—remained an exclusive club, at least until the 1990s.

Who Needs a Supercomputer?

Supercomputers are the sports cars of the technology world: fast, glamorous and expensive. But unlike sports cars, they’re not luxuries—they’re practical tools.

Who has bought them, and for what? Users include:

• The National Security Agency to decipher secret codes
• Mercedes Benz to simulate car crashes
• The National Weather Service to predict hurricanes
• Boeing to simulate airplane structures
• Merck to formulate medicines by analyzing chemical interactions
• The Atomic Energy Commission to design nuclear bombs
• The Italian police to examine crime scene videos
• The Stanford Linear Accelerator Center to analyze data from experiments