ComputerWorld: A key piece of a legislative push to boost U.S. competitiveness could lead to a significant increase in spending on high-performance computing research.

The America Competes Act, introduced into Congress last week by Sen. John Ensign (R-Nev.), calls for doubling research budgets at two agencies responsible for studying high-performance computing (HPC): the U.S. Department of Energy and the National Science Foundation.

The high-end technology is already providing significant benefits at two veteran manufacturing companies, according to executives at each.

Mark Crawford, vice president of engineering at Simpson Strong-Tie Co., knows first-hand the benefits of HPC to old-line manufacturing companies. Simpson Strong-Tie makes metal connectors used in construction and is in many ways the polar opposite of the Web 2.0 companies springing up near its Pleasanton, Calif.-based headquarters.

But this manufacturer may be one of the more high-tech companies around, because it uses a Linux Networx Inc. high-performance computer for both design and testing in its product development efforts.

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