MSC.Software today announced that the company had joined the Council on Competitiveness to share MSC's proven leadership in High Performance Computing (HPC) with the Council's network and the private sector. The Council on Competitiveness is the nation's leading organization of CEOs, university presidents, and labor leaders committed to ensuring the future prosperity of all Americans through enhanced U.S. competitiveness in the global economy and the creation of high-value economic activity in the United States. MSC.Software has worked throughout the years to extend the boundaries of high performance simulation with their MD Nastran solution, the most powerful and widely used simulation software in the world, on a wide variety of platforms from supercomputing systems to computing cluster servers comprised of hundreds of low cost computers. Participating in the Council's High Performance Computing Initiative, MSC.Software will join the national "brain trust" of industrial HPC users, universities, computer hardware and software vendors, and federal agencies/national laboratories that use and fund development of HPC, to gain insights into how the private sector currently uses advanced computing capabilities. The goals of the HPC initiative are to analyze the economic rationale for sustaining U.S. leadership in HPC, especially the impact on manufacturing, services, business, and state-of-the-art research capabilities; identify key private sector HPC application needs and priorities; identify workforce education and training needs to more effectively integrate HPC in the private sector; and foster public-private sector partnerships to better leverage resources and expertise to help overcome barriers to more widespread private sector usage. "As a company, we are excited to be a part of this initiative that is intended to stimulate and facilitate wider usage of HPC across the private sector," said Bill Weyand, chairman and chief executive officer of MSC.Software. "As we work to greatly increase productivity and innovation for our customers, it is an honor to join with other thought leaders across the country to advance high performance computing and overall competitive advantage." "MSC.Software is a valued addition to the Council's work with HPC initiatives, bringing a wealth of experience to the table to help us achieve our goals," said Deborah L. Wince-Smith, president of the Council on Competitiveness. "As we work together to ensure American prosperity and high- value economic activity in the United States, we look forward to MSC.Software's contribution to our HPC project, as well as their proven technology acumen, to be a valued asset for our initiative and organization." More information on MSC.Software and their work in high performance simulation can be found at its Web site.