The Cluster 2005 conference, to be held in and around Boston, Massachusetts, provides an open forum for researchers, practitioners, and users to present and discuss issues, directions, and results that will shape the future of cluster computing. The Cluster series of conferences is one of the flagship events sponsored by the IEEE Technical Committee on Scalable Computing (TCSC). Besides the technical paper presentation, there will be three exciting keynote speakers, four tutorials, 2 workshops and exhibits to be arranged during the conference period.

Boston and Cambridge are popular tourist locations for many reasons. Boston figured prominently in America's colonial period and the War for Independence. Local patriots included Paul Revere, John Hancock, who was once Governor of the Commonwealth, and Sam Adams (arguably more renowned for his brewing acumen). We have generated our share of U.S. Presidents, including 2 Adams and a Kennedy. Boston also has a strong association with the arts. We have had poets from Longfellow to Keroak, and the city supports a number of opera, orchestral, ballet, and acting troupes. There are many galleries and museums (including a few computer museums). Most of the popular tourist attractions, like Cheers or Quincy Market / Fanueil Hall, are well within walking distance of any other location in Boston, and public transportation facilities.

Boston also retains a prominent place in the history of High Performance Computing. Boston's circumferencial highways, Rte. 128 and Rte. 495 (sometimes called AI Alley and America's Technology Highway) are populated with innovative hardware and software companies. Digital Equipment, Data General, Honeywell, and Stratus got their start here as did Apollo, Amdahl, Prime, and Wang. AI research saw many companies start here, local to the academic institutions to which they were aligned. Kendall Square Research, Symbolics, and Thinking Machines were all within eyeshot of MIT. More recently, EMC, Analog Devices and Mercury Computing decided to "Make it in Massachusetts".

But of course, Boston's primary claim to fame these days is the network of higher education institutions. During the academic year, 1 out of every 5 people on the streets is a student. The Boston metropolitan area has over 55 colleges and universities covering the full spectrum of academic pursuits. The population of Boston balloons by 400,000 from September to May. For this reason, public transportation is quite good, and the cheapest in the country. Before mid-year 2005, many of Boston's massive construction projects, including the Big Dig tunnel, the Convention Center, and MIT's Stata Center (Computer Science / AI Lab) will be complete making the Boston experience all the more pleasant.

Delegates attending a Cluster Conference in the town which Oliver Wendell Holmes termed "the Hub of the Universe" would have a very rewarding experience.

Cluster 2005 will be held at the Boston Marriott Burlington starting the 27th of September. We look forward to seeing you in Boston! @