Event Summary
This event will be held in person only.
Every breakthrough in artificial intelligence, climate modeling, molecular simulation, energy production, pharmaceutical design, and more is powered by massive computational infrastructure. From the micro-architectures carved into silicon chips to the sprawling supercomputers and interconnected cloud clusters that span entire data centers, compute capacity is the foundational engine of modern scientific discovery, engineering innovation, and business operations and productivity.
On September 1, join the Austin Forum for a fast-paced, comprehensive overview presentation exploring the past, present, and possible futures of compute infrastructure. Our speakers will trace the trajectory of hardware evolution—from legacy chip paradigms to today's exascale hyperscale clusters, and share a comprehensive overview of the current state of the art in computing infrastructure. The will conclude with some thoughts on the future of computing, from architectures to new applications drivers and impacts. Spanning technology, real-world applications, power/energy constraints, and global economics, this presentation will give you a complete picture of the physical systems driving our digital world.
Key Discussion Highlights
The Evolution of Silicon: How Moore’s Law drove decades of microprocessor innovation, where chip scaling stands today, and why specialized accelerators (GPUs, TPUs, and domain-specific ASICs) have taken center stage.
Systems, Clusters, and Clouds: How individual chips are integrated into boards, servers, racks, and massive clusters that power modern high-performance computing (HPC) supercomputers and public cloud platforms.
Future Architectures on the Horizon: What comes next when traditional silicon hits physical limits? An exploration of alternative paradigms, including 3D stacked chiplets, optical/photonic computing, neuromorphic processing, and quantum integration.
Workloads Shaping the Hardware: How applications—from frontier AI training and drug discovery to real-time defense and financial modeling—are dictating future hardware design requirements.
Power, Cooling, and Economics: Confronting the physical reality of building gigawatt-scale infrastructure—including thermal management, energy grid demands, capital expenditure dynamics, and global supply chain considerations.
Event Agenda & Post-Event Networking
Presentation: A high-octane, multi-perspective overview of silicon, systems, and supercomputer architectures.
Audience Q&A: Bring your technical and economic questions for an interactive session with our expert presenters.
Continued Conversation at Remedy: When the Q&A wraps, the evening is far from over! Head down the street with us to Remedy, located at 3rd & Nueces, for post-event networking.
Connect with fellow attendees, swap insights on the future of compute, and enjoy a complimentary drink courtesy of our generous Austin Forum Annual Partners, Champions, and Friends.
Speakers
Jay Boisseau, Executive Director, Austin Forum on Technology & Society and CEO, Vizias
Jay Boisseau is an experienced, recognized leader and strategist in advanced computing technologies, with over 25 years in the field. Jay is the executive director and founder of The Austin Forum on Technology & Society, which he created in 2006 and is the leading monthly technology outreach and engagement event in Austin--and now attracts national and international attendees online. The Austin Forum is one of the pillars of the Austin tech scene, providing connections to information, ideas, collaborations, and community overall. In addition, Jay is CEO, co-founder (June 2014), and a partner in Vizias, a small team of passionate professionals with expertise in high-performance computing (HPC), artificial intelligence (AI), technology community building, and technology outreach & event planning. Vizias staff lead, execute, and support the Austin Forum through Vizias Research, Education, and Outreach, a non-profit dedicated to using technology for positive social impact. Jay has held previous leadership positions at Dell Technologies, the Texas Advanced Computing Center (TACC) at The University of Texas at Austin, the San Diego Supercomputer Center and the Arctic Region Supercomputing Center. He received his doctorate in astronomy from UT Austin, and his undergraduate degree in astronomy and physics from the University of Virginia.
Nicholas Malaya, Sr. Fellow, High Performance Computing and Sovereign AI, AMD
Nicholas Malaya is a Sr. Fellow in High Performance Computing and Sovereign AI at AMD. He is AMD's technical lead for exascale application performance, and led the deployment of Frontier and El Capitan, both ranked #1 at the time of their debut on the Top500. Nick's research interests include HPC, computational fluid dynamics, Bayesian inference, and ML/AI. He received his PhD from the University of Texas. Before that, he double majored in physics and mathematics at Georgetown University, where he received the Treado medal. In his copious spare time, he enjoys long-distance running, wine, and spending time with his wife and children.
Attendance Instructions
In-person
ACC Rio Grande: Building 3000
The Center for Government & Civic Service
1218 West Avenue Austin, TX, 78701
Parking map here! Street parking is free after 6 pm.
In-person attendees, please join us from 5:15 to 6:15 for networking and food. We look forward to chatting with you face-to-face!