History of IBM Research 1999
IBM formed the Deep Computing Institute, a research project guided by university, government laboratory and corporate leaders, that combined business and scientific computing techniques to solve real-world problems. More than 120 IBM research scientists will collaborate on deep computing endeavors relating to the future of e-business and scientific discovery.
A three-dimensional representation of Michelangelo's famed statue known as the Florentine Pietà is developed from computer vision technology by a team of IBM researchers, led by Gabriel Taubin, in collaboration with art historian Jack Wasserman, to answer questions about how the great artist worked.
In partnership with STMicroelectronics, an independent semiconductor company, IBM agreed to develop advanced system-on-a-chip products for use in Web browsers, hand-held computing devices and other multi-media appliances that will open new worlds of information to the mass market. This joint effort included a sharing of intellectual property, process technologies and design tools that will position both companies ahead of competitors working on similar integrated circuits.
IBM Research initiated a $100 million project to build a new supercomputer capable of more than one quadrillion operations per second (one petaflop). Nicknamed "Blue Gene," the new supercomputer will perform 500 times faster than other powerful supercomputers, and will be used at first to simulate the folding of a complex protein. To reach this remarkable level of speed, researchers at IBM are looking at new approaches to computer architecture, primarily in areas of simplification, parallel processing and system stability.
