Panel on future directions in parallel computer architecture

One of the program highlights of the 15th Annual International Symposium on Computer Architecture, held May 30 - June 2, 1988 in Honolulu, was a panel session on future directions in parallel computer architecture. The panel was organized and chaired by the author, and was comprised of Prof. Jack Dennis (NASA Ames Research Institute for Advanced Computer Science), Prof. H.T. Kung (Carnegie Mellon), and Dr. Burton Smith (Tera Computer Company). The objective of the panel was to identify the likely trajectory of future parallel computer system progress, particularly from the sandpoint of marketplace acceptance. Approximately 250 attendees participated in the session, in which each panelist began with a ten minute viewgraph explanation of his views, followed by an open and sometimes lively exchange with the audience and fellow panelists. The session ran for ninety minutes.