The GPU Computing Revolution

Under the leadership of CSL’s Wen-mei Hwu, the Blue Waters supercomputer was developed at the U. of I. using GPUs, rather than CPUs, in a controversial and high-risk bid to recover from the loss of a corporate partner that had previously been lined up to build a conventional supercomputer. The overwhelming success of the GPU-based system established the U. of I. as one of the major pioneers of the GPU computing revolution.