An irreversible shift towards multicore x86 processors is underway. Building multicore processors delivers on the promise of Moore's Law, but it creates an enormous problem for developers. Multicore processors are parallel computers, and parallel computers are notoriously difficult to program. 

We are already seeing servers and desktop systems based on dual- and quad-core mainstream processors from Intel and AMD, and the number of cores per processor are poised to explode over the next 3 years (Intel is forecasting processors with 80+ cores by 2011).

To develop and deploy reliable applications that fully leverage the new microprocessors, many applications must be written, or rewritten, as parallel or multithreaded applications. This development is difficult, expensive, time-consuming, and error-prone; and requires new programming skill sets. Organizations need a solution to this multicore software challenge.

This briefing will:
1. Explore the benefits multicore processors bring to compute-intensive applications, in terms of both throughput and response time
2. Present the key challenges facing software developers
3. Compare and contrast the programming tools and methodologies available today
4. Identify the key questions to ask when multicore-enabling a application

Speakers:

Duncan McCallum, CEO and Founder, Cilk Arts
Before joining Cilk Arts as a cofounder, Duncan spent 10 years in the venture capital industry. He began his venture capital career at Flagship Ventures where he was a General Partner, before joining Bessemer Venture Partners where he ran the Boston office. Duncan was an early-stage investor and board member in 17 software and internet companies which have produced an aggregate market capitalization in excess of $1 billion to date. In his early career, Duncan was at Draper Laboratory where he was Senior Member of Technical Staff and Program Manager. Duncan holds a BS and MS from Massachusetts Institute of Technology and an MBA with Distinction from Harvard Business School.

Charles E. Leiserson, Chairman, CTO and Founder, Cilk Arts
Charles is Professor of Computer Science and Engineering at MIT, member of the Theory of Computation research group in the MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL), and head of CSAIL's Supercomputing Technologies research group. His research centers on developing theoretical principles of parallel and distributed computing, especially as they relate to engineering reality.  Charles's textbook Introduction to Algorithms is the leading textbook on computer algorithms and the most cited reference in all of computer science. Charles was network architect for the Connection Machine Model CM-5 Supercomputer manufactured by Thinking Machines Corporation and Director of System Architecture at Akamai Technologies, where he directly managed a 35-person engineering team that developed a worldwide content-distribution network that now numbers over 20,000 servers. He is a MacVicar Faculty Fellow at MIT, an ACM Fellow, and a senior member of IEEE and SIAM.

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