Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], June 6: A laptop or desktop can typically perform around 3 billion calculations every second. While that number sounds massive, it is dwarfed when compared to the capability of a High-Performance Computing (HPC) solution. HPC devices can process quadrillions of calculations every second.
One of the most prominent use cases of High-Performance Computing is supercomputers. Modern supercomputers comprise thousands of processing units inside them which work simultaneously to perform computational tasks of the highest order.
HPCs are the enablers of all the essential advancements taking place in the tech and IT industry. The progress of IoT (Internet of Things), Artificial Intelligence, Automation & Machine Learning, Augmented Reality (AR) or 3D imaging, and data analytics — which sits at the core of these technologies, is churned through High-Performance Computing.
As significant as the role of technologies like HPC in shaping our collective future may be, the representation of women in tech and IT has been undermined throughout history.
With women making up 47% of all employed adults in the US, as of 2022, they hold only 28% of computing and mathematical roles, as per data from Zippia. While Asian or Pacific Islander women make up 7% of the IT workforce.
The disparity in numbers continues in other aspects like promotion gap, qualification gap, retention gap, and the leadership gap. As far as the equity gap is concerned, women of color experience significant challenges and are greatly underrepresented in the IT industry, as per Accenture.
Studies have consistently shown that diversity is critical to IT performance, and in 2023, many women are challenging the existing disparity by excelling in all aspects of their work. We have a plethora of instances where females in tech have brought about tremendous and far-reaching impact.
One such woman is Anjus George. One of George’s exemplary contributions comes in the form of transforming the landscape of High Performance Computing. She is part of the team at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) that delivered Frontier in 2022, the world’s fastest supercomputer.
She is the woman behind the Lustre code, which is one of the pillars behind Frontier's ability to process more than a quintillion calculations per second. The Lustre file system is an open-source, parallel file system that powers many leadership class HPC simulation environments. Anjus George is also one of the authors of “Understanding Lustre File System Internals", a technical manual written for Lustre developers across the industry.
George obtained her bachelor's and master's degrees in Technology from Cochin University of Science and Technology, and acquired her doctorate in Distributed Systems for the IoT-Edge in 2020. Achieving a Ph.D. at that stage of life is indicative of her brilliant passion for learning and growing, constantly.
Women’s representation and acclaim in tech and IT is increasing by the day as we approach an equitable distribution of opportunities at lower levels of academics and career. Gender diverse teams perform better, hire better talent, have more engaged members, and retain workers better than those that do not focus on diversity and inclusion, said a 2020 McKinsey report.
Especially in teams that are working on shaping the future of major industries, gender diversity assumes utmost importance for the creation of a wholesome society.
References:
https://www.cio.com/article/201905/women-in-tech-statistics-the-hard-truths-of-an-uphill-battle.html
https://www.zippia.com/advice/women-in-technology-statistics/
Disclaimer: No Business Standard Journalist was involved in creation of this content