Since the very first Supercomputing Conference in 1988 when supercomputer pioneer Seymour Cray delivered the keynote talk in an Orlando hotel meeting room, the SC conference series has featured compelling keynote speakers, including industry leaders, well-known scientists, authors and visionaries and even a former vice president. Despite their varied credentials and views, each keynote speaker is selected with the aim of giving a presentation that will have SC attendees talking and thinking as they leave the opening session of the conference. SC16 promises to continue this tradition.
Katharine Frase has been selected as the SC16 Keynote Speaker and will focus her discussion on “Cognitive Computing: How can we accelerate human decision making, creativity and innovation using techniques from Watson and beyond?” as she delivers the keynote on November 15, 2016 in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Frase served as Chief Technology Officer of Public Sector and Vice President of Public Sector at International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) from March 2013 to September 2015. In that role , she provided thought leadership for IBM and its customers on innovation and strategic transformation specific to government; education; life sciences; healthcare and cities; and driving the creation of new solutions.
Since October 2015, she has led the strategy and business development for IBM’s Watson Education unit, providing transformative solutions to improve student outcomes and support instructors across the education spectrum.
Prior to this role, she served as Vice President of Industry Solutions Research, working across IBM Research on behalf of IBM clients, to create transformational industry-focused solutions, including the application of IBM Watson technologies to business applications and the realization of Smarter Planet solutions.
Earlier roles included technical and business strategy for IBM’s software business, corporate assignments on technology assessment and strategy, and roles in IBM Microelectronics in the management of process development, design/modeling methodology and production of chip carriers, assemblies and test.
In 2006, she was elected as a member of the (U.S.) National Academy of Engineering. Dr. Frase received an A.B. in chemistry from Bryn Mawr College and a Ph.D. in materials science and engineering from the University of Pennsylvania. She is a member of the IBM Academy of Technology and sits on numerous external committees and boards.
