A few weeks ago, the Radeus Labs team joined thousands of HPC professionals, researchers, and developers in St. Louis for SC25, the International Conference for High Performance Computing, Networking, Storage, and Analysis. What we found was a conference at an inflection point, where traditional supercomputing meets the explosive demands of AI infrastructure, and where the future of connectivity is being built in real-time.
SC25 wasn't just another trade show. From November 16-21, the energy at the America's Center was relentless. Days were "non-stop," packed with technical sessions, vendor demonstrations, fireside chats, and the kind of networking that only happens when you put thousands of deeply technical professionals in the same space with shared challenges and genuine curiosity.
SC conferences occupy a unique position at the intersection of academic research, government laboratories, and commercial innovation. This is where engineers compare architectures, PhD students present research, and organizations wrestling with exascale computing challenges find solutions through collaboration.
If there was one overarching message that echoed through SC25, it was this: AI is fundamentally reshaping high performance computing infrastructure. The demands aren't just growing incrementally; they're exploding. Hyperscale and AI data centers require speed, scale, agility, and assurance like never before.
Traditional HPC workflows focused on simulation and modeling remain critical, but they're now sharing infrastructure with AI training and inference workloads. This convergence is driving architectural decisions across the industry, from chip design to cooling systems to network topology.
Liquid cooling solutions dominated the exhibit hall. Immersion cooling demonstrations showed entire server components submerged in circulating oil, dramatically improving thermal management. Organizations building AI infrastructure are hitting real limits with facilities lacking adequate power delivery and cooling systems unable to handle thermal density.
The concept of "AI factories" emerged as a significant trend: integrated, multi-rack systems that arrive pre-configured and tested. Rather than assembling components yourself, vendors like Dell and Supermicro are building massive facilities where they integrate entire systems and ship them ready for deployment. This addresses a real pain point: organizations need to deploy AI infrastructure quickly and reliably.
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Beyond immediate infrastructure concerns, SC25 offered glimpses into computing's longer-term future. Neuromorphic computing and quantum computing both had surprisingly strong presences. What struck our team was the increasing overlap between quantum computing and traditional machine learning approaches, as researchers actively explore how quantum systems might accelerate certain AI workloads or solve problems that remain intractable for classical computers.
The conversations reinforced what drives Radeus Labs' approach: HPC professionals need systems that integrate seamlessly with existing infrastructure, offer backward compatibility with legacy systems, and deliver non-stop reliability in mission-critical environments. When you're managing complex computing workloads where failure isn't an option, infrastructure choices become critical.
SC25 demonstrated that HPC is as much about community as it is about technology. The HPC world is collaborative in ways that might surprise those accustomed to more competitive industry events. Regional HPC networks, university partnerships, and government laboratory collaborations create a continuous cycle of innovation that benefits everyone.
This sense of community extends beyond the conference week. The relationships formed and knowledge shared at SC25 create ongoing collaborations that drive innovation year-round. With SC26 already on the calendar (Nov 15-20, 2026 in Chicago), the HPC community maintains a continuous cycle of advancement, building on insights gained in St. Louis and carrying them forward into future projects and partnerships.
This purpose-built system directly addresses a major HPC challenge: the need for high PCIe slot density without the massive cost, power demands, and infrastructure burden of traditional GPU or large-scale servers. For simulation, data acquisition, and virtualized training environments requiring multiple add-in cards, our solution delivers the connectivity you need while operating on a single power circuit.
If you are struggling with rack space, thermal limits, or power constraints in your multi-card applications, it's time to explore a better option.
Learn more about the High Density 16-Slot Server and talk to our engineers about your infrastructure needs today.