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!
Constantia Alexandrou and Norbert Meyer
Dr. Constantia Alexandrou, professor at the physics department of the University of Cyprus, and professor at the Cyprus Institute and Director of the Computation-based Science and Technology Research Center, was appointed as the council chair at Partnership for Advanced Computing in Europe (PRACE).
In addition, Dr. Norbert Meyer was elected as the new vice-chair of PRACE. Meyer currently serves as director of data processing technologies division at the Poznan Supercomputing and Networking Center, is member of ESFRI DIGIT, EuroHPC INFRAG, and e-IRG group of experts, and PRACE delegate for Poland.
Shawn Brown
Shawn Brown has taken a position with HPE as senior director, HPE Cray Programming Environment. Brown joined HPE in June, moving from the Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center, where he was appointed director in 2019. Under his direction, PSC deployed the Bridges-2 advanced research computer and the Neocortex experimental artificial intelligence system. Brown was previously at McGill University in Montreal where he served as the chief technology officer of the Neurohub Project and associate director of research software development at the McGill Centre for Integrative Neuroscience. Brown’s LinkedIn profile notes that he has “over 25 years of experience in computational science conducting research and directing teams to develop software platforms for accomplishing research and decision-making in public health, neuroinformatics and high-performance computing.”
IonQ appointed Kathy Chou to its board of directors. Chou currently serves as the senior vice president of SaaS engineering at Nutanix. As a member of the board, Chou will help support IonQ’s work to build the world’s best quantum computers to solve the world’s most complex problems.
“The opportunity for quantum computing to change the world is limitless, and I believe IonQ is well equipped to lead the charge in this complex and exciting space. Quantum computing may be the key to solving some of society’s greatest issues in the healthcare, transportation, finance, or climate change, and I believe IonQ is at the forefront of this charge. I look forward to joining the Board to help navigate this burgeoning field and am honored to be a part of this team,” said Kathy Chou.
Spencer Collins
Arm appointed Spencer Collins as its executive vice president and chief legal officer. Collins will lead Arm’s global legal organization. Collins has served as Arm’s interim general counsel and a member of its executive committee since February 2022. Collins joined Arm from SoftBank Investment Advisers.
“It’s an honor to have the opportunity to lead the talented Arm legal team and to work closely with the rest of the Arm leadership team as we set up the company for its next chapter of success and a future built on Arm,” said Collins.
Rafael Ferreira da Silva, a senior research scientist in the Data Lifecycle and Scalable Workflows group at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, was promoted to senior member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. At ORNL, Ferreira da Silva is part of a team of researchers developing scientific workflow applications and tools for supercomputers at the Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility.
“The elevation to senior IEEE member will allow me to continue to support researchers and to pursue community efforts in the distributed computing and workflows field by holding executive IEEE volunteer positions,” said Ferreira da Silva.
The Biden-Harris Administration named Sarah Kapnick as NOAA’s chief scientist. Kapnick will serve as the senior scientist for the agency, advancing policy and program direction for NOAA’s science and technology priorities. She is the third woman in NOAA’s history to be appointed to this role. An executive with 18 years of experience at the intersection of climate science and economics, Kapnick was most recently a managing director at J.P. Morgan in the role of senior climate scientist and sustainability strategist for asset and wealth management.
“It is an honor to return to NOAA and serve as the chief scientist. Our products and services are integral not only to the daily lives of Americans, but also in protecting property and supporting commerce,” said Kapnick. “The continuous development of our science and climate related products will be critical to support the economy, address climate change and ensure healthy oceans.”
Dr. Ann B. Kelleher received the 2022 SEMI Foundation Excellence in Achievement Award for her work promoting diversity, equity and inclusion at Intel and for her outstanding leadership in the semiconductor industry.
“I want to thank the SEMI Foundation for this award,” Kelleher said. “What we achieve in technology is enabled and delivered by people. Diversity in our people ensures we have broad perspectives in our technology creation and problem-solving, while inclusion allows those same people to be their full and true selves while at work. The magic of technology isn’t just the technology itself – it is what the people creating the technology are able to accomplish. I am honored to receive this award, and humbled to be included in the same group with the others who have received it before me.”
Lightmatter, a specialist in photonic computing, announced its new Vice President of Engineering, Ritesh Jain. Jain joined Lightmatter after more than 21 years at Intel leading systems and packaging engineering for data center programs. Jain served as Vice President of Intel’s Data Center and Artificial Intelligence group. Over the span of two decades, he built and led several cross-functional engineering teams globally and was part of several major technology transitions and initiatives for data center products, including the Ponte Vecchio GPU and yet-to-be-released Aurora supercomputer.
Sandia National Laboratories quantum information scientist Andrew Landahl received the 2021 Ernest Orlando Lawrence Award. Landahl was recognized for his “groundbreaking contributions to quantum computing, including the invention of transformational quantum error correction protocols and decoding algorithms, for scientific leadership in the development of quantum computing technology and quantum programming languages and for professional service to the quantum information science community.”
“I was thrilled and deeply honored to receive the award,” Landahl said. “I think it’s a statement not just about me, but about the growing role of the importance of quantum information science for the whole DOE complex. I think it’s an acknowledgment of how important it is even for the nation, and particularly, the leadership of that coming from Sandia, especially in the area of quantum computing.”
Shachar Lovett, an associate professor in UC San Diego’s Department of Computer Science and Engineering, received the Simons Foundation Investigator award. The award supports outstanding theoretical scientists in math, physics, astrophysics and computer science. Lovett will receive $100,000 per year over the next five years.
“This Simons award gives me the opportunity to pursue high-risk basic research,” said Lovett. “The beauty is we have the freedom to explore completely new techniques… every once in a while, we can develop something that is incredibly useful.”
Nick Lazaridis
AMD appointed Nick Lazaridis as its senior vice president of AMD Sales. Lazaridis will be responsible for managing sales across EMEA, India, and APJ Lazaridis most recently served as president, EMEA for HP Inc. He is returning to AMD after previously leading Asia Pacific regional sales from 2009 to 2012.
“Nick’s industry experience and wealth of knowledge of strategic global engagements will be instrumental in supporting the significant growth opportunities we see over the coming years,” said Darren Grasby.
Cathy McCarthy
Rigetti Computing, Inc., a pioneer in hybrid quantum-classical computing systems, appointed Cathy McCarthy as the chair of the board of directors. McCarthy has served on Rigetti’s board since July 2021. She currently serves as the president and chief executive officer of the strategy consulting firm Cross Tack Consulting.
From 2009 to 2013, McCarthy served on Solta Medical, Inc.’s board of directors, compensation committee, and audit committee, prior to the company’s merger with Valeant Pharmaceuticals International, Inc. She also currently serves as a board member and the audit committee chairperson for the Middleby Corporation, a publicly traded global leader in the food service industry.
Michael Morgan was confirmed by the U.S. Senate to serve as assistant secretary of commerce for environmental observation and prediction, and he will also serve as deputy NOAA administrator. In this role, Morgan will be responsible for providing agency-wide direction with regard to weather, water, climate, and ocean observations, including in situ instruments and satellites, and the process of converting observations to predictions for environmental threats.
“I look forward to working with the exceptional team at NOAA to advance our nation’s earth system prediction capabilities, ensure that our workforce reflects the diversity of our country and the communities we serve, and develop tools so that our authoritative weather and climate data can be used even more effectively,” said Morgan. “We know that communities across the country rely on NOAA data products as they develop and execute plans to improve preparedness for extreme weather and environmental change.”
Curtis Meyer and Michael Becich
Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center (PSC) appointed Curtis Meyer and Michael Becich as its interim co-directors. Meyer is Otto Stern Professor of Physics and associate dean of research for the Mellon College of Science at Carnegie Mellon University.
Becich is the associate vice chancellor for informatics in the health sciences and chair of the department of biomedical informatics, University of Pittsburgh. The two universities will work together to form a search committee to find the center’s next director.
Meyer and Becich stepped up to temporarily fill the vacancy left by the departure of Shawn Brown, who stepped down from the director position to join HPE as senior engineering director.
Ásdís Ólafsdóttir
atNorth, a Pan-Nordic data center operator, appointed Ásdís Ólafsdóttir as its ESG Manager. Ólafsdóttir will create and execute the vision and direction of atNorth’s ESG policy, including all environment and sustainable working practices. Ásdís will lead on the execution and implementation of all ESG initiatives, collaborating with key stakeholders, management teams and employees across atNorth’s data center locations in Iceland and Sweden, to align activity and ensure the company’s vision continues to progress in the right direction.
“I am very excited about joining the atNorth team,” Ásdís said. “The company is a disruptive force in the data center market and Nordic region, where it is redefining the standard of care for sustainable IT business practices. With sustainability at its core and a part of each team member’s DNA, I feel empowered to help atNorth’s business grow and am looking forward to being part of an innovative and forward-thinking company.”
Raluca Ada Popa was named the recipient of the 2021 AMC Grace Murray Hopper Award. Popa is the president and co-founder of Opaque Systems, the company pioneering confidential artificial intelligence and analytics which enables collaborative analytics and AI for confidential computing. Popa was recognized for her contributions to building secure systems focused on protecting the confidentiality of data stored on remote servers including MC2.
“I am delighted to receive the 2021 ACM Grace Murray Hopper award,” said Popa. “I have dedicated my academic and professional career to security, systems and applied cryptography, and this recognition is an honor. I look forward to continuing my work with the Opaque Systems team as we push the frontiers of Confidential AI and Analytics and unlock the full potential of confidential computing.”
The board of directors of Atos SE appointed Caroline Ruellan as a new independent director. Ruellan currently serves as the chief executive officer and founder of SONJ Conseil, an independent consulting firm.
Ruellan brings to Atos over 25 years of experience in corporate law and corporate governance. She worked at AIG Group, a world leader in financial risk insurance, from 2007 to 2013, as regional claims specialist for Europe before being appointed head of innovation and institutional relations.
Sandia National Laboratories pulsed-power physicist Daniel Sinars received the 2021 Ernest Orlando Lawrence Award. Sinars was cited for his “pioneering development of seminal X-ray diagnostics and their innovative application to z-pinch implosions that transformed the experimental capabilities on the Z pulsed power facility and enabled novel, record-breaking platforms supporting our nation’s nuclear security.”
“Ernest Lawrence was both an excellent scientist and a great laboratory leader and is often described as the father of ‘team science.’ I am inspired to continue striving toward the ideal that he represents,” said Sinars. “I’m also incredibly grateful to all the people who work in the pulsed power sciences center. We have an amazing national treasure in our unique facilities. I am constantly humbled by the effort that people put in every week to make it all work, in the expectation that what we are doing in our facilities matters. I have always viewed my primary job as making sure that it does matter and that the science we do each week serves the national interest.”
Hyperion Research announced the addition of Cary Sudan as the organization’s new principal survey specialist. Sudan specializes in data collection and analysis of IT-centric, HPC, AI and QC market research, the analyst firm said. “Hyperion Research continues to expand our support team in response to our steady growth of new clients and new projects,” said Earl Joseph, Hyperion Research CEO. “We are thrilled to have Cary Sudan join us in the position of Principal Survey Specialist. The depth and quality of our many market surveys is a core strength of what we offer to a wide range of clients. Cary brings a wealth of experience in this critically important area to our team.”
Dr. Thomas Zacharia will retire as director of Oak Ridge National Laboratory at the end of 2022. At the end of his tenure, he will have served a 35-year career at the nation’s largest science and energy laboratory. In his tenure as lab director, Zacharia spearheaded significant growth in ORNL’s staff and portfolio, established new research initiatives, and guided the lab through the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I am very optimistic about ORNL’s future and in its pursuit of excellence—to be among the premier research institutions in the world,” Zacharia said. “I am very proud that mission and service continue to define ORNL on the eve of its 80th anniversary. We are stewards of an amazing legacy, and there comes a time when we all must pass that responsibility along.”
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.
