The Sidney Fernbach Memorial Award, one of the IEEE Computer Society’s highest achievements, recognizes outstanding contributions in the application of high-performance computers using innovative approaches, in honor of the late Sidney Fernbach, one of the most influential scientists affecting the design of high-performance computers. Each year, the award is bestowed upon individuals who are pioneering advancements that are reshaping the high-performance computing field. For 2024, IEEE CS honored William M. Tang for his pioneering contributions in fusion energy research accelerated by high-performance computing and deep learning.
Tang, who currently serves as Professor, Plasma Physics Program, Department of Astrophysical Sciences at Princeton University and Director and Principal Investigator (PI) of the Intel Parallel Computing Center that at Princeton University’s “PICSciE,” the interdisciplinary institute for computational science and engineering that he helped co-found 2010, has been internationally recognized as the leading HPC computational scientist in the Plasma Physics and Fusion Energy Science. He maintains a distinguished record of scientific achievements, including physical science discoveries, mathematical physics formalism, and associated innovative contributions to computational science dealing with electromagnetic kinetic plasma behavior in complex geometries with a primary focus on Magnetic Fusion Energy (MFE).
Take for instance his work to exceed “breakeven” fusion power by a factor of 10 or more. The approach introduced by Tang was especially worthy of recognition because the quest for limitless clean energy via fusion – one of the world’s most prominent grand challenges – benefited significantly from his seminal effort in successfully using the powerful AI/DL approach to accelerating predictive progress crucial for success.
Over his 40-year career, Tang has opened new frontiers in computational science with major impacts to both plasma physics and world fusion. Tang is one of the unique innovators in computational science who has led the way through each of the evolutionary stages from the early shared memory systems based on custom circuits, to the introduction of new Machine Learning algorithms that offer the potential to bridge theory, simulation, and experiment in a unique way.
His bibliography presently includes over 200 papers, and he has an “impact factor” of 62 on Google Scholar Citations that includes over 17,270 total citations. In addition, he holds a list of notable awards, including the 2018 NVIDIA Global Impact Award for “groundbreaking work in using GPU-accelerated computing to unleash deep learning neural networks for dramatically increasing the accuracy and speed in predicting dangerous disruptions in fusion systems;” the Chinese Institute of Engineers-USA Distinguished Achievement Award for “outstanding leadership in fusion research and contributions to fundamentals of plasma science,” the International Data Corporation (IDC) High Performance Computing (HPC) Innovation Excellence Award (2013) for “using high-end supercomputing resources to carry out advanced simulations for the first time of confinement physics in large-scale magnetic fusion energy plasmas with unprecedented phase-space resolution and long temporal duration to deliver important new scientific insights;” among others.
“Based on his storied career and groundbreaking achievements, the Selection Committee arrived at a unanimous decision for William Tang to receive this year’s award,” said Mary Hall, University of Utah School of Computing, IEEE Fellow, and 2024 Sidney Fernbach Memorial Award Selection Committee Chair. “Professor Tang is a pioneer in the field of computational plasma physics accelerated by HPC and deep learning whose fundamental contributions have truly advanced the state-of-knowledge in fusion energy research. He is an excellent representative of our community, with HPC achievements and success worthy of the award’s namesake.”
IEEE CS will formally recognize Tang as the Sidney Fernbach Memorial Award at SC24, taking place 17- 22 November in Atlanta, GA. During the opening session on 19 November, Tang will be presented with a certificate, and a $2,000 honorarium.
Established in 1992, the Sidney Fernbach Memorial Award recognizes outstanding contributions in the application of high-performance computers using innovative approaches. It was named in honor of Sidney Fernbach, one of the pioneers in the development and application of high-performance computers for the solution of large computational problems.
As the 2024 recipient of the Sidney Fernbach Memorial Award, Tang will join the company of many prestigious prior winners including, Manish Parashar (2023) for contributions to distributed high-performance computing systems and applications, data-driven workflows, and translational impact; Torsten Hoefler (2022) for application-aware design of HPC algorithms, systems and architectures, and transformative impact on scientific computing and industry; David A. Bader (2021) for the development of Linux-based massively parallel production computers and for pioneering contributions to scalable discrete parallel algorithms for real-world applications; and many more.
Learn more information about the Sidney Fernbach Memorial Award that will be presented at SC24.
