Presentations + Insights
Sustainable Reality
Event Insights
In 2025, Sustainable Reality brought together researchers, engineers, and industry leaders to explore the theme Catalysts for Change.
Throughout the day, conversations spanned High-Performance Computing (HPC), AI infrastructure, research computing, and advanced computing, examining the wider factors that shape progress: operational excellence, access, skills, sustainability, trust, and the ability to turn technical capability into meaningful outcomes.
This section builds on those discussions through speaker presentations, reflections, and insights.
Lessons From the Edge
What we’ve learnt with scaling data centre heat re-use
What if the next supercomputer could become a helpful neighbour?
Modern computing infrastructure has been built on a powerful assumption.
If demand increases, we scale. More compute, more storage, more capability. Systems expand to meet the needs placed on them.
For years, that model has worked. At SR25, Mark Bjornsgaard from Deep Green outlined why that assumption can now be challenged. What if instead of bigger, we went smarter…and smaller?
Compilers, Creatives, and Collaboration
What HPC can learn from DJs and Game Devs
What does a 1996 gaming machine have to do with modern AI and HPC?
Innovation does not always begin with formal research programmes or carefully scoped product plans.
For Perry Gibson of Fractile, it often starts with small experiments that quickly test ideas, explore unfamiliar tools, and challenge established ways of thinking.
Through a series of recent creative side projects (including that game console), Perry shares how curiosity, rapid experimentation, and hands-on problem solving can uncover new approaches to AI chip design.
Reflections of a Technology Recruiter
Insights for job seekers and hiring managers
What happens when hiring decisions shape far more than headcount?
Hiring decisions shape delivery speed, team cohesion, technical direction, and the ability to grow over time. Few choices influence an organisation more consistently than deciding who joins it.
For Hiring Consultant and Recruiter John Fergusson, strong hiring begins long before interviews start. It depends on clear thinking about what a role requires, how success will be measured, and which qualities matter most to the wider team.
In his Sustainable Reality session, John explored how organisations can improve decision quality in recruitment by defining roles carefully, assessing fit thoughtfully, and avoiding mistakes that create long-term drag.
Student Cluster Competitions
Empowering the next generation of HPC.
How do you build the next generation of HPC experts?
Student Cluster Competitions provide far more than a technical challenge. They create opportunities for students to work with real HPC systems, solve practical problems, and develop the confidence that comes from learning by doing. Through months of preparation, mentoring, and teamwork, participants gain experience that is difficult to replicate in a traditional classroom.
Joseph Moore and Thomas Shtasel show how these competitions help build long-term capability across the HPC community. By lowering barriers to entry and creating pathways for motivated students, they demonstrate that future expertise is not simply discovered; it is developed through opportunity, practice, and sustained community support.
Computing Insight UK (CIUK) and Cluster Challenges
Expanding conference opportunities for those just starting in our field.
Why should the HPC community invest in its future?
The future of HPC depends on more than new technologies. It depends on creating opportunities for the next generation to gain experience, build confidence, and become part of the community. Damian Jones explains how the CIUK Student Cluster Competition was introduced to provide those opportunities and strengthen the UK’s long-term HPC skills pipeline.
By bringing together students, universities, industry, and volunteers, the competition demonstrates how community investment can create lasting impact. Rather than waiting for future expertise to emerge, initiatives like these help build it through practical experience, mentorship, and collaboration.
* The image used in this section is from the CIUK 2025 Student Cluster Competition.
Want to see more?
Each year has brought new conversations across advanced computing, innovation, and community.
More from this year’s gathering is on the way. Until then, you can revisit our 2023 and 2024 series events below.