Abstract : This report addresses the current uses of field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) and their potential for use in high performance computing (HPC). FPGAs are devices programmed using languages and methodologies originally developed for describing the circuit layouts used in today's integrated circuits. As such, they are well suited for applications involving bit manipulations performed on a continuous stream of data. However, their general applicability to HPC applications is open to debate. This report details many of the issues that determine the applicability of FPGAs to different classes of problems.