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Silicon Graphics Have Highest Performance in Automobile Crash Analysis

17 February 1999

Silicon Graphics News Flash - Silicon Graphics Supercomputers Achieve Highest Level of Performance in Automobile Crash Analysis Work for Ford

    MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., Feb. 17 -- Silicon Graphics, Inc.
said today that its computers are helping Ford Motor Company
produce safer cars. Ford is using the company's Cray T90(TM) supercomputers to
achieve a record level of sustained performance on production jobs -- more
than one gigaflop (one billion floating point calculations per second) -- when
running RADIOSS, an advanced automobile crash analysis application. Ford,
which recently ordered a third Cray T90 system because of the impressive
performance, also uses a 64-processor Silicon Graphics(R) Origin2000(TM)
supercomputer in the crash work.
    Bringing the highest level of computing power to vehicle crash simulations
is important because it helps manufacturers reduce design cycle times and
deliver better, safer cars faster. Ford has received five-star safety ratings
from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration(NHTSA) for its most
popular automobiles and minivans. Ford and other major automobile
manufacturers rely on Silicon Graphics hardware for their high-performance
computing(HPC) needs.
    For certain important classes of applications, such as crashworthiness and
NVH (noise, vibration and harshness), there is no substitute for vector
supercomputer systems, such as the Cray T90. The company's new, scalable
vector supercomputer systems are expected to reach performance levels of
multiple tens of teraflops (trillions of floating point calculations per
second). The first member of the Silicon Graphics scalable vector product
line, the Cray SV1(TM), was announced in June 1998.
    Silicon Graphics, Inc. is a leading supplier of visual computing and
high-performance systems.
    All press materials are available on the World Wide Web via
http://www.sgi.com/newsroom.
    NOTE:  Silicon Graphics is a registered trademark, and Origin and
Origin2000 are trademarks of Silicon Graphics, Inc. Cray is a registered
trademark, and Cray T90 and Cray SV1 are trademarks of Cray Research, Inc., a
wholly owned subsidiary of Silicon Graphics, Inc. All other trademarks
mentioned herein are properties of their respective owners.