Steve Chen (computer engineer)

Steve Chen
Born	1944 Taiwan
Occupation(s)	Computer engineer, entrepreneur
Known for	Design of multiprocessor supercomputers Cray X-MP and Cray Y-MP

Steve Chen (; pinyin: Chén Shìqīng; born 1944) is a Taiwanese-born computer engineer and entrepreneur in the internet sector, acclaimed for his pioneering role in the design of supercomputer architectures. In recognition of his achievements, he was inducted into the US National Academy of Engineering in 1991.

Education

Chen completed his Bachelor of Science degree at National Taiwan University in 1966. He then obtained a Master of Science from Villanova University in 1971, followed by a Ph.D. under the mentorship of David Kuck at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1975.

Career

Between 1975 and 1978, Chen contributed to the development of large-scale supercomputers at Burroughs Corporation. He is most prominently recognized as the chief architect behind the multiprocessor supercomputers Cray X-MP and Cray Y-MP. After Cray Research discontinued its MP series, he departed from the company in 1987.

In 1988, with funding support from IBM, Chen established Supercomputer Systems Incorporated (SSI) to create the SS-1 supercomputer. Although the project approached completion, it ultimately exhausted its projected $150 million budget, resulting in SSI’s bankruptcy in 1993 and the termination of over 300 staff members.

Following SSI’s closure, a successor company named SuperComputer International (SCI) was launched later that year and subsequently rebranded as Chen Systems in 1995. This entity was acquired by Sequent Computer Systems in 1996. Technology journalist John Markoff referred to Chen as "one of the nation's most brilliant supercomputer designers," highlighting his collaboration with supercomputing pioneer Seymour Cray.

In 1999, Chen founded and assumed the role of CEO at Galactic Computing, headquartered in Shenzhen, China, concentrating on blade systems for supercomputing. At Tonbu, Inc., his team engineered the first fully scalable cloud computing platform featuring dynamic process and application engines.

By 2005, Chen redirected his efforts toward grid computing with the goal of modeling cognitive functions of the human brain. By 2010, he was engaged in leveraging cloud computing technologies to improve healthcare services in rural regions of China.

In 2011, he launched Information Supergrid Technologies USA to further drive innovation in cloud and grid computing fields.

See also

• Taiwanese Americans

External links

• Galactic Computing