Moon rover robots and cannibalistic hordes to highlight Nvidia GTC keynotes

The third GPU Technology Conference kicks off May 14 with the enlightening and entertaining Nvidia CEO Jen-Hsun Huang taking the stage.

Nvidia has announced the keynote presentations for this year’s GPU Technology Conference (GTC), May 14-17 in San Jose, California. In three years GTC has become a leading gathering for scientists and engineers on the cutting edge of research, as all disciplines learn to use GPU technology. Attendees from more than 40 countries are signed up.

gtc-2010-kepler-maxwell-roadmap source nvidia — Nvidia CEO Jen-Hsun Huang revealed the GPU roadmap at the most recent GPU Technology Conference in 2010. The Kepler-class GPU was scheduled for 2011 release, but did not make it out the door until early 2012. (Source: Nvidia)

Nvidia CEO and co-founder Jen-Hsun Huang will kick off the conference with the opening address May 15. He will review the growing impact of GPU technology in science, industry, design and other fields. Nvidia says he will also announce “some big GPU news” during his keynote. At the last GTC he shared in public for the first time Nvidia’s previously internal roadmap for GPU development.

Nvidia will provide a live video stream of Huang’s keynote presentation at the GTC 2012 homepage for those who cannot attend.

On Wednesday May 16 Princeton University researcher Iain D. Couzin will describe how he is using GPU computing to study collective behavior in the natural world. His keynote presentation, “From democratic consensus to cannibalistic Hordes” highlights his research in ecology and evolutionary biology. Couzin will explain how individual behaviors can lead to dynamic collective behaviors. Couzin’s research sheds light on how neurons work, and on the drivers and dynamics of crowd behavior.

Iain Couzin mug — Iain D. Couzin, Princeton University

“Not Your Grandfather’s Moon Landing” will be the final keynote presentation May 17, as Robert Boehme and Wes Faler of Part Time Scientists describe their work to build and send a robotic rover to the moon by the end of 2013. The pair are part of one team competing in the $30 million Google Lunar X-PRIZE competition.

In addition to more than 275 conference sessions, this year’s GTC features the return of Emerging Companies Summit to showcase how startups are using GPUs to supercharge existing applications and create new solutions. Select companies will present their work in the popular “CEO on Stage” sessions. All exhibiting and presenting companies will vie for a chance to win one of five “One to Watch” awards totaling $120,000 in prize money. The summit will include a “fireside chat” with Huang and industry analyst Tim Bajarin of Creative Strategies.

GraphicSpeak Managing Editor Randall S. Newton will be attending, tweeting from the keynotes and various other venues; follow along by tracking @RSNatWork or #GTC2012.