Interview with 2019 Person to Watch Jack Wells

By HPCwire Editorial Team

May 2, 2019

Today, we are highlighting our interview with 2019 Person to Watch Jack Wells as part of our ongoing HPCwire People to Watch interview series. Jack is the director of science for the Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility (OLCF) and the Titan and Summit supercomputers, located at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). He is also the newly elected vice chair of the American Physical Society Division of Computational Physics.

Jack — who earned his Ph.D. in Physics from Vanderbilt University — has authored or co-authored over 100 scientific papers, spanning subjects including nanoscience, materials science and engineering, nuclear and atomic physics computational science, applied mathematics, and text-based data analytics. He previously led both ORNL’s Computational Materials Sciences group in the Computer Science and Mathematics Division and the Nanomaterials Theory Institute in the Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences.

HPCwire: Hi Jack, congratulations on your selection as a 2019 HPCwire Person to Watch. Also congratulations on the impressive science already being tackled with Summit. Director of science at a leadership computing center sounds like the kind of title most HPCwire readers would love to have. What’s the actual job? What are your primary responsibilities and how have they changed (and are changing)?

Jack Wells: As the Director of Science for the Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, I’m responsible for the scientific outcomes of our computing facility’s user programs. We provide leadership-class computing resources to researchers from government, academia, and industry who have many of the largest computing problems in science.

One can think of my job as an alliance manager creating synergy between our users and our leadership computing facility. I engage with our PIs, especially in our large programs (INCITE and ALCC), to ensure all aspects of our center are operated in a way that prioritizes their science outcomes. My primary responsibilities are in ensuring we are operating the facility in a way that prioritizes science; leading our team that manages our discretionary computing and data-storage resources and policies; engaging and requirements gathering for future procurements; and working with our PIs and science writers to develop materials that celebrate the accomplishments from our user programs.

My responsibilities haven’t really changed since I joined OLCF in 2011 as Director of Science, but some of the requirements and priorities have changed. Our users are demanding new capabilities to support research in data analytics and artificial intelligence. I work to help users to take advantage of new technologies to address their new needs, such as Summit’s tensor core GPU architecture. Additionally, we’ve had to change policies over time. One notable example concerns our policies supporting high throughput computing. Our leadership computing program has embraced policies supporting large-scale ensembles of calculations that cannot be effectively completed on smaller resources, rather than one huge simulation.

HPCwire: This question is a little in line with the last. Expectations for leadership class machines are understandably high; one has the sense they are not intended just to attack previously less tractable problems, but rather they are expected to add foundational insight to science domains (including computational science). What’s the mechanism and criteria for picking projects and judging success? How do you assess projects and how often are course adjustments needed where you say, we probably should have taken this particular project?

The mechanisms and criteria for project selection in our user programs are based on scientific and technical merit as determined by peer review. Researchers in any scientific discipline can apply for time on OLCF resources through several allocation programs. The INCITE program—our flagship program— promotes transformational advances in science and engineering for computationally and/or data intensive, large- scale research projects through large allocations of computer time and data resources. Awards are made based on the quality and impact of the research and the suitability of the proposed simulations for the requested resources. INCITE employs a two-phase review process. Proposals are peer-reviewed by a domain-specific panel of national academy-class experts for scientific and technical merit and potential impact. The computational readiness of the proposal is also assessed to determine how effectively the project will use the requested system.

HPCwire: Generally speaking, what trends and/or technologies in high-performance computing do you see as particularly relevant for the next five years? Also, what’s your take on near-term prospects for quantum computing and neuromorphic technologies?

Of course, I’m extremely excited about the science results that will emerge from Summit’s users. Data analytics and machine learning integrated in creative fashion with modeling and simulation is growing within our user programs. It is clear that hybrid, accelerated computing technologies are a large part of this story, and I’m excited to see how far these new approaches can progress on Summit. A growing feature is the use of mixed precision floating-point operations implemented in new hardware to achieve new heights in performance.

Also very important is the development of performance-portable programming tool chain for scientific computing on accelerated node architectures. This development includes, the evolution of language extensions and frameworks; maturation of accelerated compiler directives such as OpenACC and OpenMP; and the emergence and adoption of library abstractions, such as Kokkos and Raja.

The Exascale Computing Project is under full steam now, and it will be exciting to see the hardened, production-scale software technologies and applications that will emerge on the time scale of our exascale machine, Frontier. ECP just completed a very successful Annual Meeting in Houston in January, and the gathering was very impressive. This is the most significant investment in applications and software technologies in my career, and it is truly a national-scale enterprise.

HPCwire: Outside of the professional sphere, what can you tell us about yourself – personal life, family, background, hobbies, etc.? Is there anything about you your colleagues might be surprised to learn?

My wife, a physician working for the U.S. Veterans Administration, and I have three kids in high school and a shelter dog. So, (big surprise!) life is very busy-fun. We enjoy cooking, travel, and hiking. I grew up in Prestonsburg KY, and I have the experience of working in coal mines during summer breaks during my college years.

Subscribe to HPCwire's Weekly Update!

Be the most informed person in the room! Stay ahead of the tech trends with industry updates delivered to you every week!

MLPerf Inference 4.0 Results Showcase GenAI; Nvidia Still Dominates

March 28, 2024

There were no startling surprises in the latest MLPerf Inference benchmark (4.0) results released yesterday. Two new workloads — Llama 2 and Stable Diffusion XL — were added to the benchmark suite as MLPerf continues Read more…

Q&A with Nvidia’s Chief of DGX Systems on the DGX-GB200 Rack-scale System

March 27, 2024

Pictures of Nvidia's new flagship mega-server, the DGX GB200, on the GTC show floor got favorable reactions on social media for the sheer amount of computing power it brings to artificial intelligence.  Nvidia's DGX Read more…

Call for Participation in Workshop on Potential NSF CISE Quantum Initiative

March 26, 2024

Editor’s Note: Next month there will be a workshop to discuss what a quantum initiative led by NSF’s Computer, Information Science and Engineering (CISE) directorate could entail. The details are posted below in a Ca Read more…

Waseda U. Researchers Reports New Quantum Algorithm for Speeding Optimization

March 25, 2024

Optimization problems cover a wide range of applications and are often cited as good candidates for quantum computing. However, the execution time for constrained combinatorial optimization applications on quantum device Read more…

NVLink: Faster Interconnects and Switches to Help Relieve Data Bottlenecks

March 25, 2024

Nvidia’s new Blackwell architecture may have stolen the show this week at the GPU Technology Conference in San Jose, California. But an emerging bottleneck at the network layer threatens to make bigger and brawnier pro Read more…

Who is David Blackwell?

March 22, 2024

During GTC24, co-founder and president of NVIDIA Jensen Huang unveiled the Blackwell GPU. This GPU itself is heavily optimized for AI work, boasting 192GB of HBM3E memory as well as the the ability to train 1 trillion pa Read more…

MLPerf Inference 4.0 Results Showcase GenAI; Nvidia Still Dominates

March 28, 2024

There were no startling surprises in the latest MLPerf Inference benchmark (4.0) results released yesterday. Two new workloads — Llama 2 and Stable Diffusion Read more…

Q&A with Nvidia’s Chief of DGX Systems on the DGX-GB200 Rack-scale System

March 27, 2024

Pictures of Nvidia's new flagship mega-server, the DGX GB200, on the GTC show floor got favorable reactions on social media for the sheer amount of computing po Read more…

NVLink: Faster Interconnects and Switches to Help Relieve Data Bottlenecks

March 25, 2024

Nvidia’s new Blackwell architecture may have stolen the show this week at the GPU Technology Conference in San Jose, California. But an emerging bottleneck at Read more…

Who is David Blackwell?

March 22, 2024

During GTC24, co-founder and president of NVIDIA Jensen Huang unveiled the Blackwell GPU. This GPU itself is heavily optimized for AI work, boasting 192GB of HB Read more…

Nvidia Looks to Accelerate GenAI Adoption with NIM

March 19, 2024

Today at the GPU Technology Conference, Nvidia launched a new offering aimed at helping customers quickly deploy their generative AI applications in a secure, s Read more…

The Generative AI Future Is Now, Nvidia’s Huang Says

March 19, 2024

We are in the early days of a transformative shift in how business gets done thanks to the advent of generative AI, according to Nvidia CEO and cofounder Jensen Read more…

Nvidia’s New Blackwell GPU Can Train AI Models with Trillions of Parameters

March 18, 2024

Nvidia's latest and fastest GPU, codenamed Blackwell, is here and will underpin the company's AI plans this year. The chip offers performance improvements from Read more…

Nvidia Showcases Quantum Cloud, Expanding Quantum Portfolio at GTC24

March 18, 2024

Nvidia’s barrage of quantum news at GTC24 this week includes new products, signature collaborations, and a new Nvidia Quantum Cloud for quantum developers. Wh Read more…

Alibaba Shuts Down its Quantum Computing Effort

November 30, 2023

In case you missed it, China’s e-commerce giant Alibaba has shut down its quantum computing research effort. It’s not entirely clear what drove the change. Read more…

Nvidia H100: Are 550,000 GPUs Enough for This Year?

August 17, 2023

The GPU Squeeze continues to place a premium on Nvidia H100 GPUs. In a recent Financial Times article, Nvidia reports that it expects to ship 550,000 of its lat Read more…

Shutterstock 1285747942

AMD’s Horsepower-packed MI300X GPU Beats Nvidia’s Upcoming H200

December 7, 2023

AMD and Nvidia are locked in an AI performance battle – much like the gaming GPU performance clash the companies have waged for decades. AMD has claimed it Read more…

DoD Takes a Long View of Quantum Computing

December 19, 2023

Given the large sums tied to expensive weapon systems – think $100-million-plus per F-35 fighter – it’s easy to forget the U.S. Department of Defense is a Read more…

Synopsys Eats Ansys: Does HPC Get Indigestion?

February 8, 2024

Recently, it was announced that Synopsys is buying HPC tool developer Ansys. Started in Pittsburgh, Pa., in 1970 as Swanson Analysis Systems, Inc. (SASI) by John Swanson (and eventually renamed), Ansys serves the CAE (Computer Aided Engineering)/multiphysics engineering simulation market. Read more…

Choosing the Right GPU for LLM Inference and Training

December 11, 2023

Accelerating the training and inference processes of deep learning models is crucial for unleashing their true potential and NVIDIA GPUs have emerged as a game- Read more…

Intel’s Server and PC Chip Development Will Blur After 2025

January 15, 2024

Intel's dealing with much more than chip rivals breathing down its neck; it is simultaneously integrating a bevy of new technologies such as chiplets, artificia Read more…

Baidu Exits Quantum, Closely Following Alibaba’s Earlier Move

January 5, 2024

Reuters reported this week that Baidu, China’s giant e-commerce and services provider, is exiting the quantum computing development arena. Reuters reported � Read more…

Leading Solution Providers

Contributors

Comparing NVIDIA A100 and NVIDIA L40S: Which GPU is Ideal for AI and Graphics-Intensive Workloads?

October 30, 2023

With long lead times for the NVIDIA H100 and A100 GPUs, many organizations are looking at the new NVIDIA L40S GPU, which it’s a new GPU optimized for AI and g Read more…

Shutterstock 1179408610

Google Addresses the Mysteries of Its Hypercomputer 

December 28, 2023

When Google launched its Hypercomputer earlier this month (December 2023), the first reaction was, "Say what?" It turns out that the Hypercomputer is Google's t Read more…

AMD MI3000A

How AMD May Get Across the CUDA Moat

October 5, 2023

When discussing GenAI, the term "GPU" almost always enters the conversation and the topic often moves toward performance and access. Interestingly, the word "GPU" is assumed to mean "Nvidia" products. (As an aside, the popular Nvidia hardware used in GenAI are not technically... Read more…

Shutterstock 1606064203

Meta’s Zuckerberg Puts Its AI Future in the Hands of 600,000 GPUs

January 25, 2024

In under two minutes, Meta's CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, laid out the company's AI plans, which included a plan to build an artificial intelligence system with the eq Read more…

Google Introduces ‘Hypercomputer’ to Its AI Infrastructure

December 11, 2023

Google ran out of monikers to describe its new AI system released on December 7. Supercomputer perhaps wasn't an apt description, so it settled on Hypercomputer Read more…

China Is All In on a RISC-V Future

January 8, 2024

The state of RISC-V in China was discussed in a recent report released by the Jamestown Foundation, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank. The report, entitled "E Read more…

Intel Won’t Have a Xeon Max Chip with New Emerald Rapids CPU

December 14, 2023

As expected, Intel officially announced its 5th generation Xeon server chips codenamed Emerald Rapids at an event in New York City, where the focus was really o Read more…

IBM Quantum Summit: Two New QPUs, Upgraded Qiskit, 10-year Roadmap and More

December 4, 2023

IBM kicks off its annual Quantum Summit today and will announce a broad range of advances including its much-anticipated 1121-qubit Condor QPU, a smaller 133-qu Read more…

  • arrow
  • Click Here for More Headlines
  • arrow
HPCwire