News & Updates

One of the biggest challenges in implementing regional development efforts is recruiting business leaders who lend their insight, influence and financial resources to these projects. The Council believes that having actively engaged business executives is critical to almost any regional effort, be it focused on talent development, transportation, energy sustainability or comprehensive efforts to build regional […]

The Council on Competitiveness (Council) has called on the next president of the United States to put the full weight of his office behind the Council's 100-Day Energy Action Plan, released in September. The Council's roadmap for a sustainable energy future represents more than a year of collaboration by more than 200 private sector leaders, […]

Meeting the need for sustainable energy solutions is a national challenge of the highest priority. Progressive Dialogue II experts identified a number of key factors impacting the ability of enterprises to move forward with regard to energy security and sustainability. This report explores, through the lens of enterprise "users" the private sector's role in driving […]

This study benchmarks the U.S. aerospace, automotive, bio-life sciences and energy industries' use of high performance computing (HPC) to drive innovation for global competitiveness. It is the first study to attempt to do this and to understand how deeply within each industry's supply chain HPC has been embraced. The most noteworthy finding was that U.S. […]

Medrad, a provider of drug delivery systems, MRI imaging accessories and catheters, had purchased patents for a promising interventional catheter device to mechanically remove blood clots associated with a stroke. Breaking with a long tradition of building numerous physical prototypes to research the potential of a new technology, Medrad turned to the NSF-funded Pittsburgh Supercomputing […]

Researchers at the Salk Institute are using supercomputers at the nearby NSF-funded San Diego Supercomputer Center to investigate how the synapses of the brain work. Their research has the potential to help people suffering from mental disorders such as Alzheimer's, schizophrenia and manic depressive disorders. In addition, the use of supercomputers is helping to change […]

To advance the state of the art of its proprietary photochromic technology used in Transitions® eyewear and speed its time-to-market, PPG Industries enlisted the help of high performance computing. Advancing photochromic technology, which allows lenses to change from clear to dark and block harmful ultraviolet rays, involves complex modeling and simulation of molecules at the […]

To improve the freshness of its Folgers® coffee and reduce the costs of packaging, researchers at Procter & Gamble decided to switch from a metal can to a plastic container. However, they ran into a number of problems related to gas build up inside the containers, fluctuations caused by changes in atmospheric pressure during shipment […]

Progressive Dialogue I: The Energy-Competitiveness Relationship This report defines the linkages between our nation's need for greater energy security, the global imperative for environmental sustainability, and U.S. economic competitiveness at the enterprise and national levels. A more fulsome understanding of the various ways in which energy is now impacting—and driving—U.S. productivity and global competitiveness will […]

This study benchmarks the findings from Reveal against a group of "desktop-only" and entry level HPC users within a focused industrial sector. It confirms that even with customer requirements and/or a competitive threat, desktop-only firms still need assistance in overcoming the cost, talent and software barriers impeding high performance computing (HPC) adoption. The important role […]