Blue Waters Formally Launched on March 28

An event marking the official launching of the Blue Waters supercomputer will be held at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA) on Thursday, March 28.

The Blue Waters facility at the University of Illinois.

Illinois Governor Pat Quinn is expected to attend the event, as well as several other local and university dignitaries. The ceremony, which begins at 2:30, is an invitation-only event. However, it will be streamed live, and can be viewed online at http://mediapointe.ncsa.illinois.edu:8080/live.sdp.

According to the Blue Waters website, the system is designed to provide sustained performance of 1 petaflop for use in a range of scientific investigations. It is one of the most powerful computers in the world.

Blue Waters is supported by the National Science Foundation.

Coverage of the event:

• News-Gazette: Blue Waters' Official Launch Set
• Chicago Tribune: U. of I. Supercomputer Up and Running
• Fox News: Long-Delayed Blue Waters Supercomputer at University of Illinois among World's Most Powerful
• Wall Street Journal: Demand Surges for Supercomputers