High Performance Computing Modernization Program (HPCMP)

History In 1990, Congress mandated the Director, Defense Research and Engineering (DDR&E) to modernize the computational capabilities available to the Department of Defense (DoD) researchers in the Science and Technology (S&T) communities. To that end, DDR&E established a working group comprised of members from each Service along with Defense Agencies in order to develop a plan for modernizing the DoD’s computing resources. The resulting High Performance Computing Modernization Plan was approved, and the High Performance Computing Modernization Program (HPCMP) was established in fiscal Year (FY) 1992. DDR&E recognized that all components of the HPCMP needed to be managed, and in 1994 established the High Performance Computing Modernization Office (HPCMO), (now called the High Performance Computing Modernization Program Office (HPCMPO)). The DoD HPCMP has been in operation for over twenty years; having started out under the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD), and transitioning in 2011 to the Assistant Secretary of the Army, based at the Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) of the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) in Vicksburg, Mississippi. The nation’s scientists and engineers who focus on science and technology to solve complex defense challenges continue to benefit from the advances in high performance computing. The Program strives to meet the HPC requirements of Research, Development, Test and Evaluation (RDT&E) communities by identifying three primary areas of concentration: centers where equipment is operated and maintained, software development to take advantage of the computing systems, and a network to link the users with the resources. The HPCMPO oversees the Program, including procurement, management of the resources, and establishing Program-wide processes.