By Erin Baudendistel-Happ
Professor Dr. Martin Schulz has been invited to deliver the opening keynote at ISC 2026, bringing decades of experience in supercomputing architecture, large-scale parallel systems, and emerging computing technologies. As high performance computing (HPC) enters the post-Moore era, Schulz is well-positioned to discuss how increasingly heterogeneous and hybrid systems, including emerging quantum technologies, are reshaping the design and capabilities of next-generation supercomputers.
Schulz has dedicated his career to the intersection of supercomputing architecture, software, and large-scale scientific applications. He is a Professor of Computer Architecture and Parallel Systems at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) and serves on the board of the Leibniz Supercomputing Centre (LRZ). In these roles, he plays a key role in transforming innovative computing technologies from research concepts into production systems used by scientists and industry.
Much of his current work explores the challenges and opportunities of the post-Moore era, a time when the traditional pace of transistor scaling is slowing. Rather than relying on smaller transistors for performance gains, future computing systems will increasingly depend on integrating a number of novel technologies into a system. More specifically, Schulz studies how to design and program systems that combine CPUs, GPUs, specialized accelerators, advanced memory technologies, and emerging quantum processors.
Another important focus of his work is integrating quantum computing with classical HPC. Instead of treating quantum devices as standalone machines, Schulz advocates hybrid environments in which quantum processors act as accelerators within established supercomputing workflows. This approach allows quantum hardware to be used alongside classical simulations, optimization algorithms, and data analysis running on large HPC systems.
Schulz also plays a key role in the global HPC software ecosystem, serving as Chair of the MPI Forum, the international body responsible for evolving the Message Passing Interface (MPI) standard. MPI remains the dominant programming model for distributed-memory supercomputing and enables applications to scale across tens of thousands of processors.
Before joining TUM, Schulz spent many years at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, where he worked on performance analysis tools and large-scale parallel computing systems. His contributions have been recognized with honors, including the Gordon Bell Award. Schulz brings both a global perspective and extensive technical expertise to the table. His work is integral to the evolution of supercomputing for the next generation of scientific discovery.
Schulz’s opening keynote titled “HPC: A Heterogeneous Future” will take place on Tuesday, June 23, 2026,in Hamburg, Germany.
