Biography:Horst D. Simon

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Short description: Computer scientist
Horst D. Simon
Horst D. Simon portrait.jpg
BornAugust 8, 1953 (age 70)
Stadtsteinach, Germany
CitizenshipAmerican[citation needed]
Children2
Academic background
EducationPh.D. in Mathematics
Alma materUniversity of California, Berkeley
ThesisThe Lanczos Algorithm for the Solution of Symmetric Linear Systems. (1982)
Doctoral advisorProf. Beresford N. Parlett
Academic work
DisciplineComputer scientist
Main interestsHigh Performance Computing, parallel computing, algorithms, partitioning

Horst D. Simon (born August 8, 1953) is a computer scientist known for his contributions to high-performance computing (HPC) and computational science.[1][2] He is director of ADIA Lab in Abu Dhabi, UAE and editor of TOP500.

Early life and education

Simon was born on August 8, 1953, in Stadtsteinach, Germany. From 1963 to 1972, he attended a high school in Germany, Markgraf-Georg-Friedrich Gymnasium Kulmbach. He completed his undergraduate studies at Technical University of Berlin from 1973 to 1976. Simon joined University of California, Berkeley in 1976 from where he studied Masters of Mathematics from 1976 to 1977 and graduated with PhD in Mathematics in 1982.[2][3]

Career

Horst Simon is an expert in the development of parallel computational methods for the solution of scientific problems. His research interests include development of sparse matrix algorithms, algorithms for large-scale eigenvalue problems, and domain decomposition algorithms.[4]

Early in his career he has served as a senior manager for Silicon Graphics from 1994 to 1996.[5] Horst Simon has been an Assistant Professor of Applied Mathematics at the State University of New York from 1982 to 1983.

Boeing (1983 – 1987)

Simon has worked at Boeing Computer Services from 1983 to 1989.[6] He was part of a team at Boeing that improved the stability and efficiency of the Lanczos method, which was implemented in the BCSLIB library and used by MSC Nastran, a commercial software package for structural analysis. The block-shifted and inverted Lanczos solver incorporated the research of five PhD theses and involved collaboration between academia and industry Some of the key innovations that Simon and his colleagues introduced were block algorithms, selective reorthogonalization, shifting techniques, and a smart algorithm for choosing shifts These enhancements increased the computational performance and robustness of the Lanczos method for solving large and complex eigenvalue problems.[7]

NASA Ames (1987 – 1995)

From 1989 to 1994, Simon has worked at NASA Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, CA while serving as head of Applied Research Department for Computer Sciences Corporation.[2] He developed the Conjugate Gradient benchmark, one of the NAS Parallel Benchmarks, a set of programs that measure the performance of parallel supercomputers. His benchmark has been widely used to evaluate and optimize parallel computing technologies, and has contributed to the establishment of standards and metrics for high-performance computing.[8]

TOP500 (1996 – current)

In 1996 Simon joined the TOP500 project, that was founded by Erich Strohmaier, Hans Meuer, and Jack Dongarra in 1993.[9]

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (1996-2022)

Simon joined Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in 1996 as director of the newly formed NERSC Division.[10] In 2004, Simon was appointed Associate Laboratory Director (ALD) for Computing Sciences at Berkeley Lab. In 2007, Simon was appointed Adjunct Professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS) at UC Berkeley.

In 2010, Simon was appointed Deputy Laboratory Director and Chief Research Officer (CRO) of LBNL.[11][12] In collaboration with the senior laboratory scientific leadership, he develops, funds, and monitors the progress of the multidisciplinary laboratory research initiatives. In 2018 these include water-energy research, machine learning for science, microbiome research for environmental application, quantum information science, advanced microelectronics beyond Moore’s law, and biogenic materials and chemistry.[13]

From 2012 to 2014 Simon had assumed the leadership role in the development of the “second campus” at LBNL, a project to create a new site for the expanding programs at LBNL in biosciences and the environment.[14] From 2014 onnward, Simon focused his activities on developing the strategic thrust of “Energy Innovation” at Berkeley Lab.[15] Since 2016 Simon is leading the Diversity and Inclusion in Science working group at LBNL, exploring new structures to recruit and retain a more diverse workforce.

ADIA Lab (2022-present)

Simon was appointed in 2022 as the founding director of ADIA Lab, an independent research centre for data and computational sciences based in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.[16][17][18]

Selected publications

Articles

Books

Awards and nominations

  • 1998 — Gordon Bell Prize (jointly with group from Cray and Boeing) in recognition of his efforts in parallel processing research.[20]
  • 1995 — H. Julian Allen Award (jointly with the NAS Parallel Benchmarks Team) for notable scientific papers written by authors at NASA Ames Research Center, for the NAS Parallel Benchmarks.[21]
  • 2009 — Gordon Bell Prize (in collaboration with IBM researchers) for the second time for the development of innovative techniques that produce new levels of performance on a real application.[20][22][23]
  • 2012 — Gordon Bell Prize Finalist (jointly with group from Intel and LBNL) for development of best price performance application.
  • 2015 — Test of Time Award (ACM), for the long term impact (citations) of the paper “NAS Parallel Benchmarks” (jointly with the NAS Parallel Benchmarks team).[24]
  • 2016 — Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics - Supercomputing Career Award.[25]

References

  1. "Horst D. Simon" (in en). https://crd.lbl.gov/divisions/scidata/sdm/staff/sdm-affiliates/simon/. 
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 Land, Kimberly W. (June 5, 2000). "Computer scientist will tell the future of computers" (in en). https://www.nasa.gov/centers/langley/news/releases/2000/00-027.html. 
  3. "Horst D. Simon (IEEE)". https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/author/38185326200. 
  4. Leonardo Dagum, Horst D. Simon, David H. Bailey, Eric Barszcz (October 1994). "NAS Parallel Benchmark Results 10-94". NAS Technical Report NAS-94-001. https://www.nas.nasa.gov/assets/pdf/techreports/1994/nas-94-001.pdf. 
  5. "Colloquium Lectures 2000 | NASA Langley Colloquium & Sigma Series Lectures" (in en-US). 16 March 2013. https://colloqsigma.larc.nasa.gov/past-colloquium-lectures/colloquium-lectures-2000s/colloquium-lectures-2000/. 
  6. Black, Doug (3 March 2017). "Horst Simon to Present "Supercomputers and Superintelligence" at PASC17 in Lugano". https://insidehpc.com/2017/03/horst-simon-present-supercomputers-superintelligence-pasc17-lugano/. 
  7. https://www.boeing.com/resources/boeingdotcom/features/innovation-quarterly/may2017/btj_numerical_simulation_full.pdf
  8. Russell, John (16 November 2015). "HPCwire Debuts Outstanding Leadership Awards at SC15". https://www.hpcwire.com/2015/11/16/hpcwire-debuts-outstanding-leadership-awards-at-sc15/. 
  9. "Horst Simon". https://www.top500.org/project/authors/horst-simon/. 
  10. "Lifeboat Foundation Bios: Dr. Horst D. Simon". https://lifeboat.com/ex/bios.horst.d.simon. 
  11. "Computer scientist Horst Simon named Deputy Director for Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory". 13 September 2010. https://newscenter.lbl.gov/2010/09/13/horst-simon-deputy-director/. 
  12. staff (2023-01-30). "Nobel Prize Winner and Former DOE Secretary Prof. Steven Chu Joins ADIA Lab Advisory Board" (in en-US). https://insidehpc.com/2023/01/nobel-prize-winner-and-former-doe-secretary-prof-steven-chu-joins-adia-lab-advisory-board/. 
  13. "Moore’s Law Is Dead. Now What?" (in en). https://www.technologyreview.com/2016/05/13/245938/moores-law-is-dead-now-what/. 
  14. Rogers, Robert (27 July 2012). "Meeting lays out vision for national lab in Richmond". https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2012/07/27/meeting-lays-out-vision-for-national-lab-in-richmond/. 
  15. "NATIONAL LAB DAY PANELS" (in en). https://www.udel.edu/udaily/2016/may/national-lab-day-panels-051716/. 
  16. "Abu Dhabi-based ADIA Lab to open European headquarters in Spain". Arabian Business. May 22, 2023. https://www.arabianbusiness.com/research/abu-dhabi-based-adia-lab-to-open-european-headquarters-in-spain. 
  17. "ADIA Lab to Establish European HQ in Spain" (in en-US). 2023-03-21. https://insidehpc.com/2023/03/adia-lab-to-establish-european-hq-in-spain/. 
  18. "ADIA Lab commences operation to explores latest technologies". https://www.gulftoday.ae/business/2022/12/03/adia-lab-commences-operatio-to-explores-latest-technologies. 
  19. Black, Doug (23 June 2010). "Review: Parallel Processing for Scientific Computing". insideHPC. https://insidehpc.com/2010/06/review-parallel-processing-for-scientific-computing/. 
  20. 20.0 20.1 "ACM Gordon Bell Prize Recognizes Top Accomplishments in Running Science Apps on HPC" (in en-US). 2016-08-25. http://sc16.supercomputing.org/2016/08/25/acm-gordon-bell-prize-recognizes-top-accomplishments-running-science-apps-hpc/. 
  21. "H. Julian Allen Awards". https://history.arc.nasa.gov/awards_hjallen.htm. 
  22. "Horst D Simon: ACM Gordon Bell Prize (2009)" (in en). https://awards.acm.org/award-recipients/simon_UK67444. 
  23. Markoff, John (2007-08-06). "I.B.M. Near Supercomputer Contract" (in en-US). The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. https://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/06/technology/06ibm.html. 
  24. "Horst Simon to Lead New Research Center for Data and Computational Sciences in Abu Dhabi" (in en-US). https://www.hpcwire.com/off-the-wire/horst-simon-to-lead-new-research-center-for-data-and-computational-sciences-in-abu-dhabi/. 
  25. "LBNL's Dr. Horst Simon Named Director of Abu Dhabi Investment Authroity [sic] Lab for Computational Sciences" (in en-US). 2022-10-18. https://insidehpc.com/2022/10/lbnls-dr-horst-simon-named-director-of-abu-dhabi-investment-authroity-lab-for-computational-sciences/. 

External links