Exascale Intelligence:
Leveraging Grace Blackwell Platforms for the Next Frontier of Scientific HPC and Generative AI
March 3, 2026
Online
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Exascale Intelligence:
About the Session
The arrival of NVIDIA Grace Blackwell platforms marks a paradigm shift in how we approach the most demanding computational challenges. In this session, Dan Ernst will explore the architecture and real-world impact of Grace Blackwell. The presentation will provide a deep dive into the enhancements of the Blackwell architecture, including the Transformer Engine with native FP4 support, 8 TB/s of HBM memory performance, and the 1.8 TB/s NVLink-C2C interconnect that fuses the Grace CPU and Blackwell GPUs into a single, high-bandwidth logical unit.
Dan will also outline the software ecosystem essential for maximizing this hardware, highlighting CUDA-X libraries, and the NeMo Framework. Attendees will see performance benchmarks demonstrating how the Grace Blackwell platforms deliver speedups on everything from AI training to HPC simulations to a staggering 50x increase in AI factory output compared to previous generations. Finally, the session will showcase notable results in scientific domains enabled by NVIDIA platforms—from climate modeling to complex engineering and drug discovery.
Speaker
Dan Ernst
Senior Director of Supercomputing System Technology, NVIDIA
Dan Ernst is the Senior Director of Supercomputing System Technology at NVIDIA, where he leads pathfinding and architectural efforts for the next generation of NVIDIA’s supercomputing products. With a career spanning over 20 years in high-performance computing, Dan previously served as a Principal Architect at Microsoft and held senior technical leadership roles at Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) and Cray Inc. Dan holds a Ph.D. in Computer Science and Engineering from the University of Michigan, specializing in high-performance, low-power, and fault-tolerant microarchitectures. A recognized leader in the HPC community, he frequently contributes to the TOP500 and ISC High Performance forums, focusing on the intersection of advanced system architecture and scientific discovery.
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