How did the Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility and its vendor partners AMD and HPE Cray overcome the daunting obstacles that stood between them and the world's first exascale supercomputer? It took a lot of organization, several false starts and some fortuitous advances in computing technology.

As renewable sources of energy such as wind and sun power are increasingly added to the country’s electrical grid, old-fashioned nuclear energy is also being primed for a resurgence.

Ensuring Frontier runs as advertised spanned two fronts: the hardware and software, handled mainly by the Operations Section, and the codes developed to run the various simulations, handled mainly by the Scientific Engagement Section.

Here are a few of the many talented ORNL employees behind the construction and operation of Frontier.

ORNL is proud of its role in fostering the next generation of scientists and engineers.

In 1942, Katharine (Kay) Way was teaching physics at the University of Tennessee when a former professor recruited her to join the top-secret Manhattan Project at the University of Chicago. 

Since 2010, DOE’s Office of Science has helped to expand and invigorate the nation’s scientific workforce by supporting 785 young scientists at universities and national laboratories through its Early Career Research Program. This year, three ORNL scientists were among the 83 selected to receive ECRP awards.