Renowned research and academic leaders recognized for promoting CUDA adoption and awareness in their respective disciplines and geographies

SANTA CLARA, Calif., Nov. 10 -- NVIDIA today announced the appointment of three research and academic leaders to the CUDA Fellows Program, which recognizes individuals who are committed to leading the use and adoption of the CUDA architecture and GPU computing.

With interests in the fields of supercomputing, computation biophysics and mechanical engineering, the new CUDA Fellows are:

• Dan Negrut, University of Wisconsin, Madison
• John Stone, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
• Ross Walker, San Diego Supercomputer Center & University of California, San Diego

"Each of these individuals has demonstrated a passion and commitment to leveraging CUDA and the power of GPU computing to help solve some of the worlds' most challenging computational problems," said Bill Dally, chief scientist at NVIDIA. "I look forward to working with them to continue spreading the word about the industry-changing impact GPU computing offers to developers, researchers and academics worldwide."

The CUDA Fellows Program was established last year to recognize, reward and assist researchers engaged in exceptional work in utilizing the CUDA architecture within their disciplines or geographies. CUDA Fellows have demonstrated the benefits of GPU computing to advance their fields of research, and have been instrumental in introducing GPU computing to their peers.

The new CUDA Fellows announced today were selected by NVIDIA's research team and join an exclusive group of current Fellows: Mike Giles of Oxford University and P.J. Narayanan of IIIT.

Each CUDA Fellow receives a number of benefits, including the latest NVIDIA Tesla GPUs, a travel stipend, access to NVIDIA technical staff, and priority in receiving early releases of NVIDIA GPU hardware and software. CUDA Fellows receive continued support for their leading GPU computing research, and are invited to share their expertise at universities and technical conferences around the world.

Background information on the new CUDA Fellows is below:

Dan Negrut, University of Wisconsin, Madison

Negrut leads the Simulation-Based Engineering Lab (http://sbel.wisc.edu) at the University of Wisconsin. His ongoing projects focus on large-scale multibody dynamics, uncertainty quantification, numerical integration methods for dynamic systems, and reduced order modeling and metamodeling. For his research and educational initiatives, Negrut received a National Science Foundation CAREER Award in 2009. Previously, he worked at Mechanical Dynamics, Inc., a software company in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and served as an adjunct assistant professor in the Department of Mathematics at the University of Michigan.

John Stone, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign

Stone is a senior research programmer in the Theoretical and Computational Biophysics Group at the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, and associate director of the NVIDIA CUDA Center of Excellence at the University of Illinois. Stone is the lead developer of VMD, a high-performance molecular visualization tool used by researchers all over the world. His research interests include molecular visualization, GPU computing, parallel processing, ray tracing, haptics, and virtual environments. He also provides consulting services for projects involving computer graphics, GPU computing and high performance computing.

Ross Walker, San Diego Supercomputer Center & University of California, San Diego

Walker is an assistant research professor at the San Diego Supercomputer Center, and an adjunct assistant professor in the departments of chemistry and biochemistry at the University of California, San Diego. He runs the Walker Molecular Dynamics Lab in San Diego, leading a team that develops advanced techniques for molecular dynamics simulations aimed at improved drug and biocatalyst design. He is a key developer of the molecular dynamics engine, AMBER, and has hosted numerous international workshops on molecular dynamics. Walker's work includes improved quantum mechanical, molecular mechanical models, development of new force fields for simulation of lipid membranes, and the development of a GPU-accelerated version of the AMBER molecular dynamics engine, PMEMD.

About NVIDIA

NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NVDA) awakened the world to the power of computer graphics when it invented the GPU in 1999. Since then, it has consistently set new standards in visual computing with breathtaking, interactive graphics available on devices ranging from tablets and portable media players to notebooks and workstations. NVIDIA's expertise in programmable GPUs has led to breakthroughs in parallel processing which make supercomputing inexpensive and widely accessible. The company holds more than 1,600 patents worldwide, including ones covering designs and insights that are essential to modern computing. For more information, see www.nvidia.com.

-----

Source: NVIDIA Corp.