September 2021

Dr. Jack Dongarra to retire next summer

Director and Founder of ICL Dr. Jack Dongarra will retire on July 31, 2022. Since its inception in 1989, Jack has served as the head and heart of ICL, where he has cultivated a culture of discovery and excellence, leading over 425 researchers, staff, and students over a course of over 30 years. Part of the glue that holds the lab together, he stands as a Knoxville-based beacon for the international field of HPC. 

Jack assured the team that he will still be active and engaged until July 31, 2022 and then the plan is to become an Emeritus Professor. As an emeritus professor he will still have an office, be able to direct students, and apply for grants. 

2021 Retreat Returns as Hybrid In-Person/Virtual

The annual retreat marks a time for everyone at ICL to come together, celebrate each others accomplishments and get excited for future work. This year’s retreat was especially noteworthy; not only was it the return to meeting in-person, but Jack’s retirement  announcement at the end made it especially poignant. Meeting at the Park Vista in Gatlinburg, everyone at ICL got the opportunity to hear from one another, and for several people who joined the team during the COVID-19 pandemic, the retreat marked the first time meeting in-person.

Here are some reflections from the retreat:

“This being my first retreat, it is so interesting to finally understand what my ICL neighbors do! My experience at the retreat will foster some interesting collaborations in the future.”  – Wissam Sid Lakhdar

“Being new here, it was hard to keep track of who does what because ICL/GCL does so much! And the view was definitely one of the better views I’ve seen in my life. I look forward to what else I’ll learn while I’m here.” – Danny Mishler 

Slides from the 2021 retreat can be viewed at: http://bit.ly/icl-retreat-slides-2021

An international birthday party

Due to COVID-19, Jack’s 70th birthday celebration was a highly anticipated event. Postponed from last summer, the Numerical Linear Algebra Group hosted “New Directions in Numerical Linear Algebra and High Performance Computing: Celebrating the 70th Birthday of Jack Dongarra,” a workshop sponsored by The Royal Society and The MathWorks.

This international workshop, July 7-8, focused on numerical linear algebra and high performance computing and brought together researchers from the UC-Davis and Berkley, North Carolina State, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology and of course Manchester and Tennessee.

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Session topics included the Top500, Computing in the Old Days and, of course, Jack. Check them out here.

Want to go to SC? Apply for the SIGHPC Travel Grant

Applications for the ACM SIGHPC (Association for Computing Machinery’s Special Interest Group on High Performance Computing) travel grant for SC are open to undergraduates and recent graduate students until September 3. 

• Who’s eligible: Students at the undergraduate or early graduate level, enrolled in an accredited university in any country, and who are members of SIGHPC. Applicants do not have to be making a presentation at SC, but they need to describe why they will benefit from attending the conference.

• What’s included: Expenses are reimbursed for up to

  • $600 for recipients from North American universities

  • $1200 for travel from another continent

In addition to funding travel expenses, awardees will receive complimentary conference registration and will be assigned a mentor.

Applications are due September 3rd of each year, with notification provided by September 22nd. To apply, you must complete the following:

• simple budget (including conference registration fee)

• statement of why you wish to attend SC and what you hope to gain by doing so

• letter of support from your advisor referencing any institutional support or recognition that will be provided

• complete the application

In order to be considered for a grant, the application must be complete and the letter of support submitted on or before September 3rd.

If you have any questions that are not addressed through this page, contact students@sighpc.org.