In this monthly feature, we’ll keep you up-to-date on the latest career developments for individuals in the high-performance computing community. Whether it’s a promotion, new company hire, or even an accolade, we’ve got the details. Check in each month for an updated list and you may even come across someone you know, or better yet, yourself!

David Bader

The New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) has announced that it is establishing a new Institute for Data Science directed by David Bader. Bader — one of HPCwire‘s 2014 People to Watch — recently joined NJIT’s Ying Wu College of Computing from Georgia Tech, where he was chair of the School of Computational Science and Engineering within the College of Computing.

“The new institute and its distinguished director will be a giant leap forward for NJIT’s research enterprise,” said Atam P. Dhawan, senior vice provost for research at NJIT. “Beyond the increase in basic research that the new institute will generate, we will also collaborate closely in applied research with the thriving tech ecosystem in the greater New York metro area. These companies are hungry for data science expertise and solutions, and we will be in an excellent position to provide them.”

Donna Cox

Donna Cox has received the Distinguished Artist Award for Lifetime Achievement in Digital Art at SIGGRAPH 2019. Cox is the director of the Advanced Visualization Lab (AVL) at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA) and a professor in Illinois’ School of Art and Design, College of Fine and Applied Arts. Cox will be honored for a lifetime of work on the cutting edge of visualizations.

“This is one of the greatest honors and I am very appreciative to my AVL team, NCSA and the University who have helped make this possible,” said Cox.

Melissa Di Donato

Melissa Di Donato has been named CEO of SUSE. Prior to this role, Di Donato was COO and chief revenue officer at SAP. She has also held senior executive positions at Salesforce. Di Donato is also Technology Group chair of the 30% club, an organization aiming to achieve 30% female directors on S&P 100 boards by 2020.

“There is no greater honor than to lead SUSE into its next chapter of accelerated growth and corporate development,” Di Donato said. “SUSE is at the cusp of a historic shift as open source software is now a critical part of any thriving enterprise’s core business strategy. We are well positioned to emerge as the clear leader of this shift, with our ability to power digital transformation for our customers at their own pace and with agile, enterprise-grade open source solutions, edge to core to cloud.”

Andreas Goetz

The San Diego Supercomputer Center (SDSC) has announced that Andreas Goetz is its π Person of the Year. Goetz is director of the Computational Chemistry Laboratory at SDSC and senior investigator for the Center for Aerosol Impacts on Chemistry of the Environment at the University of California San Diego. Prior to his role at SDSC, Goetz worked as a postdoctoral researchers at the VU University in Amsterdam.

The award, which is now in its sixth year, recognizes SDSC researchers who operate in both the science and cyberinfrastructure domains. His expertise is in quantum chemistry, molecular dynamics and GPU-accelerated computing. Some of his current research includes using simulations and smart algorithms to predict the behavior of molecular liquids.

Rebecca Hartman-Baker

Rebecca Hartman-Baker is the inaugural recipient of the Krell Institute’s James Corones Award in Leadership, Community Building and Communication. Hartman-Baker leads the User Engagement Group at the National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center (NERSC). She will formally receive the award and a $2,000 honorarium at a ceremony later this year.

The selection committee cited Hartman-Baker’s “broad impact on high-performance computing (HPC) training; her hands-on approach to building a diverse and inclusive HPC user community, particularly among students and early-career computational scientists; and her mastery in communicating the excitement and potential of computational science.”

Mark Iwanowski

Formulus Black has announced the appointment of Mark Iwanowski as its new CEO. Iwanowski most recently served as CEO and president of Global Vision-SV, Inc. Prior to that role, he was managing director of Trident Capital.

“I have been on both sides of the conference table, as a startup executive and a VC, and from an operational and capital-raising perspective Formulus Black is a unique opportunity,” said Iwanowski. “Today high-performance computing, analytics, machine learning and artificial intelligence applications are the rule, not the exception, in industries like finance, automotive, telecom, energy, defense, and bioscience – Formulus Black’s Forsa software is a transformational technology for these environments.”

Bill Kramer

William Kramer — one of HPCwire‘s 2013 People to Watch — has been selected as the next director of the Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center (PSC). Kramer is currently project director and principal investigator of the Blue Waters Project, as well as the senior associate director for @Scale Science and Technology at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA).

“I am extremely honored to be selected as the director of the Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center. The center, which is supported by two world-class universities, is well positioned to help current and future generations of scientists, engineers and researchers create insights into a wide range of challenges in fundamental science, health care, security and other areas that will expand our understanding of phenomena that are of critical importance to society,” said Kramer.

Thomas Krauss

Optalysys Ltd. has announced the addition of Professor Thomas Krauss to its Scientific Advisory Board. Krauss, one of the most-cited photonics academics in the U.K., leads a large research group and is Strategy Champion “Technologies for the Future” at the University of York.

“I have always been excited about optical computing,” Krauss said, “but so far, it has not been able to compete with microelectronics. The guys at Optalysys have really cracked the problem and I am convinced that together, we can build devices that will outperform electronic computers. Optalysys’s technology offers a true paradigm-shift.”

Jordan Musser 

Jordan Musser, a scientist with the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) and the US Department of Energy’s Exascale Computing Project (ECP), is among the recipients of the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE). Musser is a physical research scientist in NETL’s Research and Innovation Center’s Computational Science and Engineering Division.

“It’s obviously an honor to win. There are so many people who are deserving of this award besides me, but it’s nice to be selected and have your work recognized with this level of admiration from the government,” Musser said.

Per Nyberg

Stradigi AI has announced the appointment of Per Nyberg to the new role of chief commercial officer (CCO). In the new role, Nyberg will be responsible for leading Stradigi AI’s marketing, sales and client success teams. Nyberg has held a number of senior management positions in the technology industry – most recently, vice president at Cray, Inc., where he was responsible for developing Cray’s global AI business.

“I am very excited to be joining the exceptional team at Stradigi AI at this pivotal time following the launch of Kepler,” said Nyberg. “Kepler will revolutionize the way clients can build and execute AI solutions for complex business challenges.”

Lorne Wilson

Microway has announced the appointment of Lorne Wilson as COO. Wilson’s previous roles include vice president at Boxx Technologies, chief sales officer with BluStor and senior vice president at Fujitsu. He previously served as co-chair of the NVIDIA Partner Network Partner Advisory Council, HPC.

“Microway delivers bleeding-edge performance hardware and software, as well as outstanding service to customers in a wide array of markets,” Wilson said. “I am excited for the opportunity to work with a talented team and accelerate the company’s remarkable growth.”

Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE) Winners

The White House has announced the recipients of the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE). The PECASE, which was established in 1996, acknowledges the contributions scientists and engineers have made to the advancement of STEM education and community service. It is the highest honor bestowed by the U.S. government on early-career scientists and engineers. To view the full list of 315 recipients, follow this link.

XSEDE 2019-2020 Campus Champions Fellows

Five members of XSEDE’s Campus Champion community have been selected as Campus Champions Fellows for the 2019-2020 academic year, earning them the opportunity to work alongside XSEDE staff and research teams on real-world projects. The fellows are:

• Brady Butler, who will work on “Computational Studies on Physical and Chemical Properties”
• Beau Christ, who will work on “Workforce Development: Education”
• Kyle Hutson, who will work on “Documenting NIST 800-171 for working with Classified Uncontrolled Information”
• Helen Kershaw, who will work on “Powering the HydroShare Science Gateway”
• Mike Renfro, who will work on “Cyberinfrastructure Resource Integration”

To read more about the 2019-2020 fellows, follow this link.

To read last month’s edition of Career Notes, click here.

Do you know someone that should be included in next month’s list? If so, send us an email at [email protected]. We look forward to hearing from you.