Local Arrangements

Welcome

Who We Are

How to Reach Us

Conference Information

Dining Services

Smoking Policy

Hotel Information

On-Site Facilities

Travel Information

Social Events

Related Conferences

Conference Sponsors

Dear CUG members and friends,

We are delighted and honored to welcome so many of you to CUG SUMMIT 2000. As always, the CUG conference is an excellent opportunity for the High Performance Computing community to come together, exchange information about the exciting solutions that SGI and Cray Inc. offer, and discuss the biggest and most interesting computational problems that scientists from academia and industry face today.

We hope that you will agree with us that the site we have selected not only offers excellent facilities for the conference itself, but also for your relaxation in the off-conference hours. The settings are typical for the Netherlands: sand, sea, and sun. (If needed, however, we could also provide some rain and storm winds). Since trade is our second most common occupation (next to supercomputer usage) you may find your own well-known home cooking and drinks right next to our typical Dutch products, all equally enjoyable.

The theme of this year’s conference is Polder Computing, and it emphasizes the relationship between our country’s struggle for land and the use of computer models to gain victory over water and wind. Indeed, a large part of this country lies below sea level, as the name indicates: "Neder" means Low or Below. For example, Schiphol Airport, where a number of you will arrive, lies more than 5 meters below sea level. The fact that approximately half of our population lives "under water" and at the same time shows no signs of distress can in part be explained by the successes of the civil engineering community and their use of supercomputers.

The Technical University of Delft is well known in and outside of Holland for its long-standing tradition in the use of computational techniques and simulation models that support both civil and other fields of engineering. Together with SARA, founded in 1971 and for many years the national center for supercomputing in the Netherlands, we have the pleasure of being your hosts for this conference and hope you will enjoy every aspect of it.

To make the most of your stay with us, please refer to local arrangements pages on this web site. There you will find information on off-program activities that the surroundings of Noordwijk and the Netherlands provide. At the time of the CUG meeting, the famous bulb season will be over, but you can comfort yourself with the idea that the valuable part of the bulbs is still right below your feet. To indicate that you, as a CUG visitor, are a better informed tourist than average, you should pick up some soil from the land side of the dunes, sift it between your fingers and nod approvingly. This is the typical gesture of the famous Dutch bulb farmers and gains you instant recognition as an expert.

Hartelijk Welkom in Noordwijk en in de polder van supercomputing!

Dr. C.H.M Nieuwenhuis	Prof.dr. S.W. de Leeuw

Who We Are

How to Reach Us

Local Arrangements Committee

Until May 19, 2000

Noordwijk CUG 2000 Conference
Maria Roodenburg
HPaC
Lorentzweg 1
2628 CJ Delft, The Netherlands
(31-15) 2781440
cug2000@sara.nl

From May 21-26, 2000

Noordwijk CUG 2000 Conference
Grand Hotel Huis ter Duin
CUG2000 conference office
(31-71) 3649875 Fax: (31-71) 3649056
cug2000@sara.nl

Conference Registration

CUG Office
2911 Knoll Road
Shepherdstown, WV 254432
(1-304) 263-1756

Conference Information

Conference Location

Grand Hotel Huis ter Duin
Koningin Astrid Boulevard 5
Postbus 85
NL-2200 AB Noordwijk aan Zee
The Netherlands
(31-71) 361 9220 Fax: (31-71) 361 9401

Who May Attend

CUG meetings are not open sessions as per our organization's bylaws. Admittance to any meeting session requires the appropriate identification badge. Generally speaking, employees of a CUG Member site (usually a facility or company using an SGI or Cray Inc. computer and identified by its CUG site code), and users of computing services provided by a CUG member site, may attend a CUG meeting as a registered Installation Participant from that CUG Member site.

Additionally, CUG bylaws specify that a "CUG Visitor" is "Any individual who is not an Installation Representative and who is invited to attend a specific function of the Corporation ... [with] the prior approval of the Board of Directors." This generally applies to an occasional invited speaker who brings important perspectives to our meeting in support of a strong technical program.

Finally, CUG bylaws state that "Meetings shall not be used for marketing or other commercial purposes."

Conference Registration

Register for the conference using the on line conference registration form. Registration forms may also be requested from the CUG Office or the Local Arrangements Office (see "How to Reach Us" above).

Cancellations

Conference registration cancellations must be received by the CUG Office (see "How to Reach Us" above) before April 26, 2000. All registration fees will be refunded (less a $25 handling fee) if the cancellation is received by this date.

On Site Conference Registration Location/Hours

Conference registration is located on the ground floor in the Grand Hotel Huis ter Duin. Badges and registration materials are available during the office hours listed below. All attendees must wear badges during CUG Conference activities.

Office Hours:

Sun, May 21	3:00-5:00 PM
Mon-Thu, May 22-25	8:00 AM- 6:00 PM
Fri, May 26	8:00 AM-2:00 PM

The E-mail room will not be available after 2:00 PM on Friday.

Dining Services

Smoking Policy

Hotel Information

Reservations

To ensure that you receive the CUG Conference hotel rates, please use the hotel reservation form. Forms should be faxed to the Grand Hotel Huis ter Duin using the address and fax number on the form. Please do not use the fax number listed on this page to send reservation forms. Reservations must be received by the hotel by April 26, 2000. The hotel reservation form is available here or you may request a form to be faxed or mailed by the Local Arrangements Office (see "How to Reach Us").

NOTE: Reservations will be handled in chronological order. People with the earliest reservations will get the rooms with the view of the beach and the sea!

Any questions about hotels, rooms and available services can be directed to the LAC at the address in "How to Reach Us".

Shipping Information

Speakers or others who need to ship items, should send them to the Grand Hotel Huis ter Duin no more than three working days in advance of the Conference. Shipping labels should indicate your name and the CUG Conference, and should be sent to the attention of Robbert-Jan Meinardi at the hotel address (see "Conference Information").

Business Center

The Grand Hotel Huis ter Duin has a Business Center located on the basement level, next to the billiard room. Services available there include word processing, printing, copying, and faxing. Those with laptops can take them to the business center and send files to printers (including transparencies). There is a charge for these services.

Special Assistance

Any requests for special assistance during the Conference should be noted on the "Special Requirements" area of the registration form or you may let the Local Arrangements Office know (see "How to Reach Us").

Grand Hotel Huis ter Duin web site

The hotel has its own website including a guided tour at: www.huisterduin.nl

Noordwijk web site

Noorwijk also has a web site at: vvvnoordwijk.nl

On-Site Facilities

Messages

During the Conference (May 22-26), telephone messages will be taken at the on-site CUG conference office (31-71) 3649875 or Fax: (31-71) 3649056. Messages may also be e-mailed to cug2000@sara.nl and will be posted in the registration area.

E-mail and Personal Computers

E-mail facilities will be provided at the Conference for attendees' use. The E-mail room will not be available after 2:00 PM on Friday.

Speaker Preparation Room

A speaker preparation room with an overhead projector and a Macintosh, PC, printer etc. will be available for conference speakers to prepare for their presentations and to do last minute editing.

Photocopying

A copy machine for making a limited number of copies will be available in the CUG Conference office on site. If you plan to distribute copies of your presentation, please bring sufficient copies with you. You may also use the hotel Business Center for making copies, for a charge.

Travel Information

Passports and Visas

Citizens of EU member states only need a valid passport or identity card. Citizens of the USA will only need a valid passort, but no visa. Others may need a visa for travel to The Netherlands, along with a valid passport. Please check with The Netherlands Embassy or Consulate in your area for detailed information or talk to your travel agent.

Currency

The currency is the Gulden (in English, Guilder or Florin, and abbreviated as Dfl). Although the official currency of most EU countries is the Euro as of 1999, this currency only exists in banking traffic. The values of all member states have fixed exchange rates with the Euro. The Euro as hard cash will be introduced on January 1, 2001. The value of the Guilder is about 0.45 USD; 1 Euro is about 1.00 USD.

Currency, including traveler checks, can be exchanged at a bank or at Schiphol airport. The ABN Bank, Hoofdstraat 98, near the hotel, is open Monday through Friday from 9:00 AM until 5:00 PM. At the airport, there are two banks/currency exchange offices: one in the baggage claim area and one outside the terminal, near the traffic control tower. Just outside the baggage claim area there is a currency exchange machine. Furthermore, there are cash dispensers accepting various credit cards. Go to the exchange rate web site for help.

Voltage

Electrical service is 220 volts, 50 cycle. You will most likely need an adapter for use in electrical outlets. Check the Voltage Valet for information on requirements and to find adapters.

Weather

The average daily high temperature by the end of May is 19 degrees C or 66 degrees F. Light coats or jackets are recommended and there may be rain.

Ground Transportation

Airport shuttle

A shuttle service is available between the hotel and the airport. A single fare from the airport to the hotel is Dfl 35 (about Euro 15.90 or 17 USD). It is necessary to make advance reservations using the shuttle reservation form available here. If you fax this form to the Grand Hotel Huis ter Duin, they will monitor the progress of your flight and take care that transportation will be available when you arrive.

Taxi phone number

At the airport, taxis are available in abundance at the exit of the arrival hall. The distance to the hotel is approximately 35 kilometers. All cab fares are metered. SCHIPHOLTAXI states that you do not need to reserve a taxi in advance. To call Schipholtaxi: (31-20) 6531000, fax: (31-20) 6532307.
The Schiphol Taxi website is: www.schipholtaxi.nl.

Car rental agencies

These six car rental agencies have desks in the arrival hall of Schiphol airport:


Alamo Rent-a-Car	(31-20) 615518	www.goalamo.com
Avis Rent-a-Car	(31-20) 4309609	www.avis.com
Budget Rent-a-Car	(31-20) 6041349	www.budget.nl
Europcar	(31-20) 6041566
Hertz Rent-a-Car	(31-20) 6015416	www.hertz.com
Sixt Rent-a-Car	(31-20) 4059090

Public transport

The public transport network in the Netherlands is rather dense, especially in the part of the country where Noordwijk is located. Trains can reach all major cities and many provincial towns. Noordwijk, however, can only be reached by bus. If you fly in via Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport you can take bus no. 52 from Schiphol Airport to Noordwijk (time needed: about 1 hour). These busses leave Schiphol Airport 14 minutes past each hour.

You can also take a train from Schiphol Airport to Leiden and take bus 40 or 42. These busses ride frequently from Leiden to Noordwijk. Train fares from Schiphol Airport - Leiden Central Station are second class (default) Dfl. 9,50/ USD 4.50 and first class Dfl. 14,75/ USD 6.70.

Bus tickets are called "strippenkaart" and are valid throughout The Netherlands. The ticket contains 15 or 45 so called "strips". The country is divided into zones and you need to have stamped the number of strips that is equivalent to the number of zones you travel through, plus one. Only the last strip of that number is stamped, usually by the bus driver who knows how many strips you need. Schiphol-Noordwijk is 9 strips; Leiden-Noordwijk is 5 strips. Prices of the "strippenkaart": 15 strips is Dfl 12.- / USD 5.50: 45 strips about Dfl. 35.- / USD 16.- provided you buy them beforehand, e.g. at the counter of a railway station. (Buying tickets from the bus driver is possible, but more expensive).

If travelling by train, you should change trains in Amsterdam or The Hague and take the train to Leiden Central Station. From there you can take the bus to Noordwijk (see above).

Holiday

Between 20 and 30 May there are no public holidays in The Netherlands. If you want to stay after the conference then take into account that this year Ascension Day (Hemelvaart in Dutch, Himmelfahrt in German) is on June 1st and is a public holiday in our country as well as in surrounding countries.

Social Events

Newcomers Luncheon

Due to the special character of the program this year, the newcomers luncheon has been cancelled. Instead you may talk to members of the Board of Directors and other CUG officers in an area specially designated for Newcomers during lunch on Monday through Thursday.

Cray Inc. Reception

Cray Inc. will host a reception on Monday evening in the Keizerzaal (Imperial Room). All conference participants and their guests are invited to attend.

SGI Reception

SGI will host a reception on Thursday evening in the Keizerzaal (Imperial Room). All conference participants and their guests are invited to attend.

CUG Night Out

The traditional CUG Night Out will be held on Wednesday, May 24.

We would like to invite you on the 'Prins van Oranje,' a historical ship that was built in 1908. We will take you on a journey through the Dutch countryside during which you will get a beautiful overview of the Dutch landscape with its polders, flowers, and windmills. Because of Daylight Saving Time, you will be able to watch all of this until about 9:30 PM. Of course there will be a delicious buffet and a nice glass of wine and who knows what else. We look forward to welcoming you on board.

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Conference Sponsors