Cray’s $180 million deal kicks off Seattle supercomputing conference
By Seattle Business Magazine November 14, 2011
Seattle-based Cray Inc. splashed the opening of Seattle’s SC 11 supercomputing conference with a $180 million contract from the University of Illinois’ National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA).
Representing roughly 40 percent of Cray’s projected 2012 revenue of about $350 million, the multiyear products and services contract is expected to make Cray profitable in 2012, according to the company’s latest outlook release. Together with a $90 million contract for upgrading the Cray system at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Cray thinks the two contracts will validate the success of its Adaptive Supercomputing initiative — the centerpiece of it’ presentations for the 10,000 attendees expected at the International Conference for High Performance Computing beginning Monday at the Washington State Convention & Trade Center.
Cray’s contract is to complete the $300 million Blue Waters supercomputer project in place of IBM, which recently withdrew from the endeavor. When finished, scientists will use the supercomputer for a variety projects, including research into how tornadoes are formed.