MESSAGE from the DIRECTOR
Published August 2026
Dear SDSC Collaborators, Partners and All Friends:
When people ask what excites me most about where we are headed, it comes down to real-world impact. This issue highlights the many ways SDSC put that into action this season to serve communities across the country.
We marked a major milestone with the launch of the NSF-funded Category I National Data Platform. This project will unify fragmented national infrastructure into an AI-ready ecosystem, putting powerful data and computing resources at the fingertips of U.S. researchers, educators and students.
That same commitment to practical solutions drives our work across local communities. Supported by Google’s philanthropic arm, SDSC is building digital twins of real forest landscapes, allowing fire managers to simulate wildfire behavior long before a spark catches.
Regionally, our partnership with Fresno State and F3 Innovate launched the F3i Supercomputing Center, bringing high-performance computing to California’s Central Valley so local growers, startups and students can drive agricultural security and rural economic development.
On a personal note, I am honored to now serve as Science Advisor on the CENIC Board of Directors, helping extend SDSC's statewide impact. This board brings together leadership representatives across the entire public workforce development landscape in California, from K-12 to public libraries and the three public higher education systems: California Community Colleges, California State University and University of California.
Our broader work in this issue spans everything from an AI tourism assistant for the FIFA World Cup to enabling research on hydrogen storage.
Thank you, as always, for being part of this community. You all make this work possible, and I'm grateful for it.
Warm wishes,
Frank Würthwein
SDSC Director