October 22, 2020 - by CSCS
Nationality
USA
Working at CSCS since
January 2015
Background
- 2001-2005 Bachelor of Science in Computer Engineering, Iowa State University, USA
- 2005-2012 Systems Support Specialist, Ames Laboratory, USA
- 2012-2015 Systems Engineer, National Center for Supercomputing Applications, USA
Specialised in
In the office of the CTO, I oversee many projects relating to the infrastructure of CSCS. This involves interacting with the many groups at CSCS to coordinate efforts towards the overall strategic goals defined by our Director. As a Systems Architect, I design new HPC systems to meet the needs of our customers and partners. This includes running a hardware testbed plat-form to try out new ideas, as well as constantly staying up to date with the latest technologies and software service offerings in order for CSCS to remain competitive.
Working at CSCS means to me
It means being on the cutting edge of HPC: coming up with new solutions using technologies and ideas that haven’t been fully perfected yet, and then figuring out how to integrate these to best support our scientific users’ needs.
What I like most about my work
I like that there isn’t really a typical day for me, and there are always new things to learn and new technologies to explore. I also really enjoy taking part in world-wide collaborations between other leading HPC centers and vendors to develop new ideas and see how others are tackling similar problems.
What challenges me at my work
Trying to plan years ahead into the future in a rapidly changing landscape can be difficult and sometimes frustrating when roadmaps change unexpectedly, and I have to be able to adapt rapidly as releases get closer. Also, keeping current production needs met while exploring future solutions is a delicate balance, which means that I can’t always investigate everything that looks interesting.