Research in the field of parallel computer architectures andparallel algorithms has been very successful in recentyears, and further progress isto be expected. On the otherhand, the question of basic principles of the architectureof universal parallel computers and their realizations isstill wide open. The answer to this question must beregarded as mostimportant for the further development ofparallel computing and especially for user acceptance.The First Heinz Nixdorf Symposium brought together leadingexperts in the field of parallel computing and itsapplications to discuss the state of the art, promisingdirections of research, and future perspectives. It was thefirst in a series of Heinz Nixdorf Symposia,intended tocover varying subjects from the research spectrum of theHeinz Nixdorf Institute of the University of Paderborn.This volume presents the proceedings of the symposium, whichwas held in Paderborn in November1992. The contributionsare grouped into four parts: parallel computation models andsimulations, existing parallel machines, communication andprogramming paradigms, and parallel algorithms.