IEEE CS and ACM Announce Recipients of the 2024 George Michael Memorial HPC Fellowship

LOS ALAMITOS, Calif., 14 August 2024 – The IEEE Computer Society (CS) and the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) today announced that Ke Fan of the University of Illinois at Chicago and Daniel Nichols of the University of Maryland at College Park are the 2024 recipients of the ACM/IEEE CS George Michael Memorial High Performance Computing Fellowship.

Fan was named the 2024 Fellow for her research excellence, academic progress, and plans to enhance and apply HPC skills. As a Ph.D. candidate in computer science, she has been engaged in research in the area of high performance computing (HPC) and is cited “for contributions in optimizing the performance of MPI collectives, enhancing the performance of irregular parallel I/O operations, and improving the scalability of performance introspection frameworks.”

Fan’s research has earned the distinction of being named as a best poster finalist at Supercomputing 2023 (SC23), the industry’s leading HPC event. In addition, her findings have been featured in top-tier HPC conferences such as ACM International Symposium on High-Performance Parallel and Distributed Computing (HPDC). Fan continues to build on her work by exploring new research areas, including GPU-aware collectives, auto performance tuning for collectives using machine learning, and ensemble performance visualization tools.

“Fan’s work is exploring a number of important emerging areas in HPC,” said Kathryn Mohror, George Michael Memorial HPC Fellowship Selection Committee. “I know I speak for the committee when I say we’re excited to see what she does next in her career and are glad the Fellowship can help her advance her ideas.”

Nichols was named a 2024 Fellow for advancements in machine-learning based performance modeling and the advancement of large language models for HPC and scientific codes.

As a fifth year PH.D. student at Maryland, Nichols has been working with the Parallel Software and Systems Group, focusing his research on the intersection of high performance computing and machine learning, and how to apply machine learning to computer systems problems that arise in supercomputing. His work enables more efficient use of supercomputers through intelligent job scheduling and resource placement, large language model-guided performance optimizations, and machine learning driven performance modeling.

“The work that Nichols is focused on has significant implications for the future of supercomputing,” said Kathryn Mohror, George Michael Memorial HPC Fellowship Selection Committee. “Advancements like the ones that Nichols is exploring can vastly improve supercomputing performance and help resolve issues. So, the selection committee is thrilled to award the 2024 fellowship to Nichols to help further these advancements that can not only support his personal growth and development, but the evolution of the larger industry as well.”

IEEE CS and ACM fund the annual ACM/IEEE CS George Michael Memorial HPC Fellowship award, with support from the SC Conference Series. As the recipient of this year’s Fellowship, Fan will receive:

• • An award of $5,000 to defray graduate education expenses and

• • A complimentary registration, plus travel expenses, to SC24, taking place 17-22 November in Atlanta, Ga., where the fellowship will be formally presented.

In addition to naming this year’s recipients, IEEE CS and ACM also announced today that nominations for the 2025 George Michael Memorial HPC Fellowship award are open. Candidates must be enrolled in a full-time Ph.D. program at an accredited college or university; must meet the minimum scholastic requirements at their institution; have completed at least one year of study; and have at least one year remaining between the application deadline and their expected graduation. Nominations must be submitted by 1 May 2025. To submit, visit https://www.computer.org/volunteering/awards/michael.

About the ACM/IEEE CS George Michael Memorial High Performance Computing Fellowship
The ACM/IEEE CS George Michael Memorial HPC Fellowship is endowed in memory of George Michael, one of the founders of the SC Conference series. The fellowship honors exceptional Ph.D. students throughout the world whose research focus is on high performance computing applications, networking, storage, or large-scale data analytics using the most powerful computers that are currently available. The Fellowship includes a $5,000 honorarium and travel expenses to attend the SC conference, where the Fellowships are formally presented.

About the IEEE Computer Society
Engaging computer engineers, scientists, academia, and industry professionals from all areas and levels of computing, the IEEE Computer Society (CS) serves as the world’s largest and most established professional organization of its type. IEEE CS sets the standard for the education and engagement that fuels continued global technological advancement. Through conferences, publications, and programs that inspire dialogue, debate, and collaboration, IEEE CS empowers, shapes, and guides the future of not only its 375,000+ community members, but the greater industry, enabling new opportunities to better serve our world. Visit computer.org for more information.

About SC
SC, the International Conference for High Performance Computing, sponsored by ACM and IEEE CS, offers a complete technical education program and exhibition to showcase the many ways high performance computing, networking, storage, and analysis lead to advances in scientific discovery, research, education, and commerce. This premier international conference includes a globally attended technical program, workshops, tutorials, a world-class exhibit area, demonstrations, and opportunities for hands-on learning. SC24 takes place 17-22 November in Atlanta, Ga. Registration is now open. To register or learn more, visit https://sc24.supercomputing.org/attend/.