Sun’s Russians : U.S. Firm Widens Scientists’ Research Effort
One of the most eminent computer scientists of the former Soviet Union made his public debut in Silicon Valley on Tuesday, expressing confidence that two research and development projects with Sun Microsystems will help him keep his research teams intact and ultimately aid the crumbling Russian computer industry.
Boris A. Babaian, lead designer of the powerful supercomputers used by the Soviet military, was smiling and cheerful at a press conference here as he swapped jokes with Sun Chairman Scott McNealy and smoothly fielded questions despite his limited English.
The occasion was Sun’s announcement that it had expanded an earlier agreement with Babaian and his engineers to include not only advanced research, but software product development as well. A number of American companies, including AT&T; and Corning Glass, have signed contracts with researchers in the former Soviet Union, but Sun’s arrangement with Babaian and his researchers appears to be the most ambitious collaboration yet.
“This cooperation makes it possible to continue our work in this field,” said Babaian, an energetic 59-year-old native of Azerbaijan. “Without it, our teams would be destroyed in a short period of time. This is the only possibility for resurrecting our computer industry.”
Today, Babaian said, that industry has almost ceased to function, with the few enterprises that have money to spend on computers turning to Western vendors.
“To use the word crisis is almost an understatement,” agreed Peter Wolcott, a research associate at the University of Arizona who is an expert on the Russian computer industry.
He noted that while the computer industry in the old Soviet Union was technically primitive compared with that of the West, it was fully integrated--building everything from chips to supercomputers--and employed hundreds of thousands of people.
Yet it’s unclear whether agreements such as the one between Sun and Babaian can make a significant contribution to resurrecting that industry. Wolcott noted that if the Russian researchers are simply doing “yardwork” for Sun and not getting access to advanced technology, the benefits are likely to be limited.
Babaian agreed that it was difficult to assess the long-term benefits.
Babaian made his name as the lead designer of the Elbrus family of supercomputers, considered to be comparable in many respects to the most advanced of the supercomputers from world leader Cray Research.
Wolcott described him as “forceful, high-octane” personality who is both top-notch scientist and an astute political operator who knows how to get things done.
Although he’s only been to the United States twice before, Babaian on Tuesday was already displaying a good grasp of Western computer industry repartee, drawing laughs with the observation that unlike some other computer institutes in Russia, “we have real products.”
The new agreement with Sun calls for 33 software engineers at three different research centers to help Sun develop high-speed software translation programs known as compilers.
Under the deal announced in March, about 50 engineers at Babaian’s Institute of Precision Mechanics and Computer Technology in Moscow are doing advanced research on Sun’s SPARC computer design.
Sun executives and Babaian agreed that one of the biggest hurdles they face is the export controls that continue to limit the transfer of advanced technology to the nations of the former Soviet Union.
Some equipment and software cannot be sent to Russia at all, and in other cases special clearances must be obtained in a process that can take months.
“There’s still a lot of suspicion and a lot of foot-dragging by the Department of Defense,” said Luke Alexander, Sun’s specialist in export controls. In some cases, the Russians send software information which then cannot be sent back because of the export controls. But all parties agree that the situation is slowly improving.
