Gordon Bell Prizes Awarded at SC21 Conference

November 18, 2021

A 14-member research team from Chinese institutions was awarded the 2021 ACM Gordon Bell Prize for their project, Closing the "Quantum Supremacy" Gap: Achieving Real-Time Simulation of a Random Quantum Circuit Using a New Sunway Supercomputer. In their prize-winning work, the researchers introduced a systematic design process that covers the algorithm, parallelization, and architecture required for the simulation.

The ACM Gordon Bell Prize tracks the progress of parallel computing and rewards innovation in applying high performance computing to challenges in science, engineering, and large-scale data analytics. The award was presented by ACM President Gabriele Kotsis and Mark Parsons, Chair of the 2021 Gordon Bell Prize Award Committee, during the International Conference for High Performance Computing, Networking, Storage and Analysis (SC21).

Read the ACM news release.

Also at SC21, the 2021 ACM Gordon Bell Special Prize for High Performance Computing-Based COVID-19 Research was presented to a six-member team for their project Digital transformation of droplet/aerosol infection risk assessment realized on “Fugaku” for the fight against COVID-19. In April 2020, in response to the worldwide spread of COVID-19, the Japanese government made Fugaku, the world’s fastest supercomputer, available to scientists working to combat the epidemic. The research team employed Fugaku to run a variety of simulations of how COVID-19 might spread from person to person via aerosolized droplets.

This special prize is being awarded in 2020 and 2021 to recognize outstanding research achievement toward the understanding of the COVID-19 pandemic through the use of high performance computing.

Read the ACM news release.