The 2023 Energy HPC Conference: Taking Supercomputing Further in the Face of the Energy Transition

Recap of Houston's highly-anticipated annual gathering at the intersection of energy and HPC, hosted February 28 - March 2, 2023

The Ken Kennedy Institute hosted the 16th annual Energy High Performance Computing Conference on February 28 — March 1, 2023, with post-conference workshops on March 2. The Energy HPC Conference is the premier meeting place for key stakeholders to engage in conversations about challenges, opportunities, and new developments advancing high performance computing in the energy industry. This annual gathering, which began in 2008 as the Rice Oil & Gas HPC Workshop, takes a critical look at — as put by HPCwire editor Addison Snell — “strategic directions for traditional and evolving definitions of energy and HPC,” especially in the face of the energy transition to welcome renewable alternatives through the influence of both the current political and environmental climate.

Over 550 leaders in high performance computing, information technology, academia, and the energy sector gathered at the BioScience Research Collaborative on Rice University’s campus in Houston, TX to participate in the discussion and learn from experts at the core of energy and HPC innovation. The 2023 conference welcomed 33 international attendees and 137 from out of state, with attendance from Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Great Britain, Iceland, Israel, Italy, New Zealand, and Ukraine.

Discovering Developments in HPC

“Seven of the most powerful 50 supercomputers on the November 2022 Top500 list are at energy companies — and those are just the ones we know about.” — Addison Snell

The intersection of the energy industry and high performance computing requires constant innovation to meet the changing demands of the industry, environment, global community, and workforce. Supercomputing is and continues to be pivotal in taking energy capabilities further. Each year at the conference we learn of something new emerging in the industry beckoning to be discussed, challenged, and applauded before the next innovation comes to fruition, be it new technology, processes, concepts, or applications.

This year, the 2023 Energy HPC Conference featured keynote speakers Henri Calandra, Expert in Numerical Methods and HPC for Geoscience at TotalEnergies, and John Etgen, Distinguished Advisor for Geophysics at bp, on Tuesday to discuss “What Really Matters to our Industry in the Area of HPC and the Era of Exascale,” from cloud computing to the emergence of artificial intelligence in HPC. Wednesday’s keynote speaker Bronson Messer, Director of Science at the Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility (OLCF) at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), spoke on “Fronter: The World’s First Exascale Supercomputer,” highlighting its architecture and capabilities.

Other invited speakers included Wafik Beydoun, International Association of Oil & Gas Producers (IOGP); Gibby Dunleavy, Constant Impact LLC; Gary Grider, Los Alamos National Lab (LANL); Samir Khanna, bp; Partha Routh, ExxonMobil Engineering and Technology Company; and Dan Stanzione, Texas Advanced Computing Center (TACC), The University of Texas at Austin.

In addition to invited speaker sessions, the conference featured parallel technical sessions focused on algorithms, machine learning, optimization, and systems. The conference also created a gathering space for breakout discussions on niche topics of interest to start the mornings, with conversations on large-scale data management, building better collaborations, communicating the value of HPC, and supporting diversity in the workforce.

Filled with rich insights and hours of content, the 2023 Energy HPC Conference was not short of entertainment and engagement, with each day of the conference concluding in afternoon receptions. Tuesday’s Sponsor Networking Reception allowed attendees to meet with over 30 conference sponsors including Lenovo, the 2023 Platinum Sponsor. To pair with the evening’s fruitful conversations, the reception included a specialty wine, cheese, and heavy appetizer selection along with magic and entertainment from the Crescent Circus. Wednesday’s Poster Presentation Reception showcased exciting research happening in the field by future leaders in high performance computing.