SC 2002 Program Overview

It’s been almost two years since the members of the SC2002 Technical Program Committee first began planning for the conference to be held Nov. 16 – 22 in Baltimore. The work involved brainstorming, soliciting ideas for content from the best and brightest in industry and academia, pouring over hundreds of high-quality submissions, and juggling schedules to accommodate the needs of speakers, panelists, and technical paper presenters.

Granted, it was hard work, but it was also the chance for creative and talented people from across the country to put their heads together and develop a program that would challenge conference participants, encourage debate, stimulate new ideas, even generate some controversy. As the Technical Program Chair who had the pleasure of working with this excellent and dedicated committee, I believe we have succeeded. A quick rundown of our program only touches the surface of what we have to offer, including:

Invited speakers who are visionaries and well-known leaders in their fields, including keynote speaker Rita Colwell, director of the National Science Foundation.
A core program of 67 exceptional papers chosen from more than 230 submissions
31 full and half-day tutorials chosen from a record 87 submissions
Masterworks sessions offered over three days in four general areas: infrastructure, life sciences, computer aided engineering, and HPC in commerce
Lively panel discussions by the experts on the hottest topics, including two panels on the use of information technology for homeland security

New at SC2002 will be the chance to participate in the IntelliBadge™ demonstration. Open to all technical program registrants, IntelliBadge technology will allow participants to track events that fit their needs and interests, locate people of similar interests, view statistics on the conference, and win valuable prizes.

In short, I believe we have put together one of the best technical programs in the history of the SC conference series and I thank the Technical Program Committee for their dedication and commitment to excellence. Of course, the final judges of our success will be you—the technical program participants. I hope to see you in Baltimore, and I welcome your comments, criticisms, and suggestions on how to create an even better technical program in the years to come.