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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!
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Director Kim Budil was selected by the San Francisco Business Times as one of the Power 100, an inaugural list highlighting the top 100 business leaders in the Bay Area. Budil is the 13th director of LLNL, where she leads a workforce of approximately 8,300 employees and manages an annual operating budget of nearly $3B.
“As director of LLNL, I have the opportunity to lead more than 8,000 employees who deliver innovative science and technology to address some of the biggest challenges facing our nation and the world today,” Budil said. “It is an honor to be included with this group of outstanding leaders who also strive to make a difference for their employees and their communities.”
Françoise Chombar and Thomas Skotnicki
Françoise Chombar, chairwoman and co-founder of Melexis, a fabless company based in Europe, and Thomas Skotnicki, professor of Warsaw University of Technology and the Institute of High Pressure Physics, are the recipients of the European SEMI Award and Special Service Award for 2022.
“We are honored to recognize Françoise Chombar and professor Thomas Skotnicki for their outstanding leadership and tremendous contributions to Europe’s semiconductor community,” said Laith Altimime, president of SEMI Europe. “These extraordinary leaders have been instrumental in helping the semiconductor industry fulfill its ambitions and inspiring future generations to drive toward a more equitable, digital and greener future.”
Bill Dally
Bill Dally, chief scientist and senior vice president of research at Nvidia Corp. and an adjunct professor and former chair of Computer Science at Stanford University, was inducted to the Silicon Valley Engineering Council’s Hall of Fame.
In a blog posted by Nvidia, Dally said, “I am honored to be inducted into the Silicon Valley Hall of Fame. The work for which I am being recognized is part of a large team effort. Many faculty and students participated in the stream processing research at Stanford, and a very large team at NVIDIA was involved in translating this research into GPU computing. It is a really exciting time to be a computer engineer. The future is bright with a lot more demanding applications waiting to be accelerated using the principles of stream processing and accelerated computing.”
James Deaton
Internet2 appointed James Deaton as its vice president of network services. Deaton will be responsible for leading the strategic direction and ongoing operations of Internet2’s network infrastructure and advanced services in support of research, education, and global collaboration.
“I am thrilled to join the talented team at Internet2 and contribute to the organization’s mission of advancing research and education through cutting-edge technologies,” said Deaton. “I look forward to collaborating with our members and partners to continue driving innovation and pushing the boundaries of what’s possible for the community.”
SiFive, Inc. appointed Adam Dolinko as its chief legal officer and senior vice president of corporate development. Dolinko brings over 25 years of experience to SiFive leading, negotiating and closing more than 80 transformative corporate IPOs, mergers & acquisitions, and strategic deals.
“Time and time again, Adam has delivered by leading successful IPOs, M&A and complex strategic deals with virtually every titan in the semiconductor ecosystem—he is a key addition to our executive team,” said Patrick Little, SiFive’s Chairman of the Board and CEO. “He brings seasoned leadership as an executive of public companies on different trading markets, deep experience managing investment banks, and his industry expertise maps directly to SiFive’s core sectors. We are delighted that he’s joined us as we work closely with customers and strategic partners to continue to rapidly scale our business and drive the RISC-V ecosystem.”
James Eckstei and Philippe Guyot-Sionnest
James Eckstein from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and Philippe Guyot-Sionnest from the University of Chicago have been inducted into the American Association for the Advancement of Science Fellowship. Eckstein is recognized as one of the pioneers in the development of techniques for growing high-quality oxide thin films for the investigation of fundamental properties of cuprate superconductors and oxide magnetic materials.
Guyot-Sionnest explores nanoparticles and their optical properties, including shell quantum dots, intraband quantum dot spectroscopy, and electronic doping and ligand exchange strategies that impart ohmic electrical conductivity to films of quantum dots.
Ryan Farris and Brandon Whitelaw
Qumulo appointed Ryan Farris as its vice president of product. Before joining Qumulo, Farris was the chief technology officer at Anitian, a provider of cloud security and compliance automation. He also served as the product and engineering leader at Amazon.
In addition, Qumulo appointed Brandon Whitelaw as its vice president of strategic partnerships. Whitelaw also comes from Amazon where he led worldwide go-to-market strategy for AWS’s storage portfolio along with vertical solution development. Prior to AWS, Whitelaw was chief of strategy for Dell’s File and Object division.
Deborah Frincke from the Sandia National Laboratories was appointed to the National Quantum Initiative Advisory Committee. Frincke currently serves as the associate laboratories director of national security programs at Sandia National Laboratories.
“Quantum science and technology are believed to have enormous potential in a wide variety of sectors,” Frincke said. “Quantum computing, imaging and sensors are among the areas where important breakthroughs may lead to significant advances. It is an honor to be part of the NQIAC, designed to both advise the president and to represent the needs of industries, universities and federal laboratories.”
QuSecure, Inc. appointed Lisa Hammitt as its first independent director. She currently serves as chairwoman of the board of directors for Intelsat, as well as an outside director with Glassbox Ltd. and Clear Channel Outdoor.
“Quantum security’s time has come, and I see QuSecure as the most innovative company in the space,” said Hammitt. “The incredibly fine-grained encryption enabled by QuSecure’s technology takes CISOs off the defensive and lets them address threats before they emerge. It is an honor to serve on QuSecure’s board, and I look forward to helping them achieve success in such a critically important endeavor.”
Quantinuum appointed Rajeeb Hazra as its chief executive officer. Hazra has more than three decades of experience in supercomputing, quantum, and technical roles across the globe. He will work closely with the executive team to accelerate quantum computing and advance the commercialization of the company.
“I’m honored to step into the CEO role, where I’m excited to focus on helping Quantinuum grow and drive the innovations that will transform the way quantum computing positively impacts the world,” Hazra said. “By building on the solid foundation that Ilyas and the team have laid, we will continue to accelerate Quantinuum into the future.”
Rainer Kegel
Cortical.io, a Vienna-based artificial intelligence developer, appointed Dr. Rainer Kegel as its chief executive officer. Kegel will be responsible for the strategic development of the company.
“Data science is an absolute future topic. It is still barely integrated into corporate processes, so I see enormous growth potential,” said Kegel. “Cortical.io has developed an AI system that helps companies make labor-intensive, document-centric processes more efficient. In many organizations, documents are still reviewed and processed manually because no software is able to handle the intricacies of human language. When thousands of documents are involved, this tedious, error-prone work ties up too many human resources. Cortical.io solutions understand the meaning of text, a capability that enables the automation of new enterprise workflows.”
Laurie Locascio
Laurie Locascio, under secretary of commerce for standards and technology and director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), has been elected to the National Academy of Engineering. Locascio leads NIST’s collaborative efforts with industry, academia and government to unleash U.S. innovation by advancing technology, measurements and standards.
Locascio is also working to advance and grow NIST’s work in emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, quantum information science, cybersecurity and privacy, biotechnology, energy and advanced communications.
David Ramku
The Open Compute Project Foundation, the non-profit organization bringing hyperscale innovations to all, appointed David Ramku of Meta to its board of directors. Prior to joining Meta, Ramku spent 18 years at Intel. In his most recent role, he served as the General Manager of the Infrastructure Processing Unit business.
“The OCP Foundation and the Community welcomes David and we are excited to have his leadership and experience to help guide us through the next decade and beyond. We also would like to express our gratitude to Mark Roenigk for his long-standing services, support and guidance,” said George Tchaparian, CEO for the Open Compute Project Foundation.
Tuomas Sandholm
Tuomas Sandholm, a professor at Carnegie Mellon University’s School of Computer Science, was recognized with the AAAI Award for Artificial Intelligence for the Benefit of Humanity. He was awarded for his contributions to the design and implementation of organ exchanges and their direct impact on both practice and policy.
“Sandholm has been a leader in conceptual innovations and is involved in policy around this life-saving work. By blending cutting-edge science and software with tireless efforts to see these methods put into practice, his impact on individual lives, families and society is inspiring,” the AAAI said in the award announcement.
Stefan Savage
Stefan Savage, a professor in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at the UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering, was elected to the National Academy of Engineering. Savage was recognized for his contributions to the security, privacy and reliability of network systems, transforming approaches to problems in these areas.
Savage has also received a MacArthur “genius” award, the ACM Prize in Computing, which recognizes the greatest achievements in the field, and is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He is also the first researcher to have received the “Test of Time” award from each of the leading computer security conferences: IEEE Security & Privacy, ACM Computer and Communications Security and USENIX Security.
James Simon
Quantum Computing Inc., a full-stack quantum software and hardware company, appointed James Simon, a former senior Central Intelligence Agency officer and former executive at Microsoft to establish and lead the Company’s technical advisory board.
“With the commercialization of QCI’s initial product offering, I believe the company’s decision to launch a technical advisory board is well-timed,” said Simon. “Our mission is to ensure that the strategic evolution of QCI’s technology meets its objectives, while remaining sufficiently agile to confront the challenges inherent in an emerging field. A key role of the board is to help maintain a balance between competitive, technological development and profitable economic growth.”
Sibendu Som, a scientist at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory, has been designated a fellow by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. Som leads the Advanced Energy Technology directorate’s artificial intelligence and high performance computing initiative.
“I am honored and humbled to receive this prestigious recognition from ASME. I would like to thank my excellent team and many mentors over the years who have motivated me to pursue computational research,” Som said. “Most of my service to ASME has been through the Internal Combustion Engine division, and I would like thank them for the oppo
rtunity to serve the division.”
James Barr von Oehsen was appointed as the director of the Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center, a joint research center of Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Pittsburgh. Von Oehsen joined PSC from New Jersey where he served as the associate vice president for the Office of Advanced Research Computing at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, and the co-lead of the New Jersey Alliance for Clinical and Translational Science informatics team.
“As someone who has a strong connection to the Cyberinfrastructure Ecosystem, I am very familiar with PSC and its many achievements and reputation as a global leader,” said von Oehsen. “The thought of being involved with moving PSC to the next level in advancing science and research is extremely exciting and an honor.”
The National Academy of Sciences elected Berkeley Lab director Mike Witherell to serve on its leadership council. The NAS council is the board of directors of the organization and comprises five elected officers and 12 additional members, four of whom are elected each year. Councilors are elected to three-year terms.
Witherell has been a NAS member since 1998. He is a fellow of the American Physical Society, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Berkeley Lab is the second national laboratory he has led; he headed Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (Fermilab) from 1999 to 2005.
Danfeng Yao
Virginia Tech’s Danfeng “Daphne” Yao was elevated to fellow, the highest grade of membership in the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). Yao is a professor in the Department of Computer Science and affiliate faculty at the Sanghani Center for Artificial Intelligence and Data Analytics at Virginia Tech. She was elevated to fellow for for her contributions to enterprise data security and high-precision vulnerability screening.
Yao has been an IEEE member since 2007 serving in several roles, including as program chair for the IEEE Secure Development Conference in 2019 and steering committee chair for the conference from 2019-22. In addition, Yao was associate editor for IEEE Transactions on Dependable and Secure Computing from 2014-18 and co-editor of the IEEE Security and Privacy 2021 Special Issue on the Annual Computer Security Applications Conference in 2020.
Rocky Enterprise Software Foundation Board of Directors
The Rocky Enterprise Software Foundation appointed Louis Abel, Benjamin Agner, Chris DiBona, Greg Kroah-Hartman, and Mark Watson to the newly formed board of directors. They will be responsible for leading the effort to preserve the longevity, stewardship and innovation of enterprise-grade open source software that is always freely available. For more details on each member, click here.
SEMI Semiconductor Climate Consortium Governing Council
SEMI, the industry association serving the global electronics manufacturing and design supply chain, elected the Semiconductor Climate Consortium governing council members and its chair and vice-chair. For details on each member, click here.
“The Semiconductor Climate Consortium Governing Council brings together sustainability leaders from across the global supply chain and their election marks another key milestone on the industry’s path to net zero,” said Ajit Manocha, SEMI president and CEO. “I commend the Council members for their commitment to this crucial effort to forge shared solutions on the most challenging climate issues.”
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 maria[email protected]. We look forward to hearing from you.
