The Washington Post: On Wednesday, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) and IBM unveiled their planned partnership, known as “Deep Computing Solutions,” to provide third-party access to LLNL and IBM’s joint human capital and computing power.

TOP500: For the first time since 2009, the United States has reclaimed the top spot on the list of TOP500 Supercomputers. The supercomputer, named Sequoia, is an IBM Blue Gene/Q system that is housed at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. Sequoia boasts 16.32 petaflops of computation power using 1,572,864 cores. The official announcement of the list came on Monday June 18, and Japan’s “K Computer” was bumped to the number two spot.

Forbes.com: In a recent question and answer session with Forbes Magazine, U.S. Secretary of Energy Steven Chu talked about how supercomputers will change our energy future. Pointing out that today’s supercomputers are over a million times more powerful than the average desktop, Secretary Chu discussed how supercomputing can enhance industry’s research and development capabilities allowing scientists to move beyond simply plotting an equation to advanced modeling and simulation. Specifically, Secretary Chu cited the example of simulating the aerodynamics of an 18 wheeler to improve fuel efficiency. “Previously, scientists had two pillars of understanding:  theory and experiment. Now there is a third pillar: simulation,” said Secretary Chu. “This experimentation in a computer is the third leg of technological development.”

The Independent: On March 19, 2012 Lawrence Livermore’s hpc4energy incubator program announced the selection of six industry projects that will benefit from the lab’s high-performance computing expertise. The winning companies are GE Energy Consulting; Robert Bosch LLC; Potter Drilling Inc.; ISO New England; United Technologies Research Center; and GE Global Research. The Independent reports that the winning projects will be managed by Lawrence Livermore’s High Performance Computing Innovation Center.

Renew Grid Magazine: The Obama administration’s proposed budget for fiscal year 2013 reveals the administration’s prioritization of clean energy research projects and improvements to the nation’s transmission grid. In particular, “The FY 2013 request includes $10 million for Advanced Modeling Grid Research, which focuses on computational and modeling capabilities in order to increase understanding of the transmission grid.” This funding highlights the cost-effective nature of employing high-performance computing to address America’s energy efficiency challenges.

Students for a Smarter Planet (IBM Blog): A recent piece on IBM’s blog Students for a Smarter Planet identifies the value high-performance computing can bring to the oil and gas industry. Processing seismic data, modeling and product design are three areas where HPC can provide competitive advantages.

Dr. S. Julio Friedmann in Energy Biz Jan./Feb. 2012 issue: In reviewing the “California Energy Systems for the 21st Century (CES-21),” Dr. Julio Friedmann of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory identifies the technical challenges of improving the reliability and stability of the state’s transmission grid. He reports on the promise of a partnership with Lawrence Livermore to harness HPC to address those obstacles. He writes, “accessing and applying high-performance computing is central to the plan, which will employ some of the fastest and most powerful computers in the world and the teams to operate them.”

HPC Wire: HPC Wire reports on the February 1 groundbreaking of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory’s new Computational Research and Theory Facility. U.S. Secretary of Energy Steven Chu spoke at the event to demonstrate the “Obama administration’s commitment to U.S. leadership in scientific innovation, particularly in the area of energy.” Secretary Chu noted, “Computation has played an incredible role in pushing back the frontiers of science,” and that these HPC capabilities will be “a key element in helping further the innovation and industrial competitiveness of the United States.”