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S Ramakrishnan, director general, C-DAC
Param, the first Indian supercomputer, was developed by the Center for
Developed and Advanced Computing (C-DAC) in the last decade, putting India into
the selected club of nations with these high-end machines. A lot has changed
since the days when C-DAC used to be the premier R&D company of India. Today,
the Tata group has recently talked of developing the worlds fourth fastest
supercomputer, Eka. In these times of consumerism and capitalism, what is the
real relevance of C-DAC? Ramakrishnan, director general, C-DAC, talks on these
issues and more in a tte--tte with Dataquest. Excerpts:
It has been two decades since C-DAC came into being, what would you rate
as the highpoints in this journey?
In the past two decades, the history of C-DAC has mirrored that of our
nation. India, as a nation, has taken immense strides over the past two decades
and so has C-DAC. We had started of in 1988 as a Scientific Society of the
department of Information Technology (formerly, department of Electronics). The
idea to set up C-DAC was primarily to aid in design, development, and deployment
of advanced IT-based solutions. Thus, C-DAC was meant to be a cutting-edge R&D
institute that worked on different technologies. There were a few areas that we
were very focused on from the starthigh powered computing (HPC) or super
computing and language computing. We have also invested in numerous hardware
groups like, control systems, power electronics, broadband and electronics,
cyber security and forensics, and open source. Even then, I am very excited
about the prospects of C-DAC in the coming years. We are into a mission mode and
are making big strides in all the domains that we have been active, be it launch
of software products or super computing.
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Different organizations like National Center for Software Technology,
Center for Electronic Design and Technology, and units of erstwhile Electronics
Research and Development have been merged into C-DAC. How have you been
coping with that?
To be honest, it was a tough journey and it is quite obvious why. Bringing all
these disparate and diverse organizations and ensure that a single philosophy
runs through all is a big challenge. But I am very glad to say that the work has
been and we have been able to synergize based on the different strengths that
have been brought to fore by all the varying entities. With that behind us, we
are working toward the future, setting goals and objectives and discussing the
path that we will take.
CDAC has been upstaged by CRL in the race for supercomputing; they have
recently announced the invention of Eka, the fourth fastest supercomputer in the
world. What is your take on it?
As an Indian, I am very proud of Eka and I truly welcome the Tata initiative.
The difference between the Tatas and us is mainly that of the resources. They as
a group have been able to set aside a large amount of resources and hence, have
been able to develop the supercomputer in such a short period. But, beyond the
teraflops and the petaflops, what really matters is the business case and RoI.
The Indian Institute of Sciences, C-DAC, CRL, are all into supercomputing and
cater to different audiences. India needs supercomputing and every step in that
direction is most welcome.
What are the reasons for choosing Pune?
The reasons are not really hard to come by. Pune, in the last few years,
have emerged as an automobile and engineering hub. Thanks to the numerous
engineering colleges in and around there is an abundance of skilled talent that
is hard to find in any other city. But, not only that, Pune attracts
academicians and scientists from across India. So, there is hardly any other
place in India that matches Pune.
Shashwat DC
shashwatc@cybermedia.co.in Page(s) 1
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