DAHLGREN, Va. – A mathematician from Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren Division (NSWCDD) was named as the winner of three awards, NSWCDD announced, June 26.
Dr. Evan Coleman won the Dr. Charles J. Cohen Award of Excellence for Science and Technology for his exemplary efforts in advancing the science of parallel computing, specifically in the area of developing fault tolerant methods to be executed on high performance computing clusters.
NSWCDD leaders also recognized Coleman with the fiscal year 2019 In-House Laboratory Independent Research (ILIR) Project of the Year Award for his investigation of the robustness of the parallel iterative algorithms. These algorithms are what drive many large-scale simulations with respect to the expected increase in the rate at which faults will occur on high performance computing clusters.
Moreover, the scientist won the 2020 Warfare Center Innovation Award in recognition of his efforts in the advancement in the area of developing fault tolerant methods to be executed on high performance computing clusters.
“I hope that the research that led to this award can eventually be used in a practical way to help increase the productivity on high performance computing platforms,” said Coleman, “especially when used on large-scale, high-fidelity simulations that can directly lead to an improved product for the warfighter.”
The Dr. Charles J. Cohen Award of Excellence for Science and Technology Award recognizes those who have either fundamentally impacted science or technology with patented awarded work, made significant contributions to one or more projects that transitioned to a program of record, contributed with their research briefings or published research papers, or has collaborated with external partners. The nominee is selected for their accomplishments that are relevant to the NSWCDD mission that also measurably impacts capability.
The Warfare Center Innovation Award was originated from the Warfare Centers’ Award. The Warfare Centers’ Award was established in 2005 to recognize cross-Warfare Center collaborative efforts. Eventually, the award expanded into the following five categories: collaboration, innovation, knowledge sharing, technical support services, and talent management.
The In-house Laboratory Independent Research Excellence Award recognizes an individual or group whose research contributions show outstanding technical or scientific merit and are relevant to the mission of NSWCDD.
These awards also recognize Coleman for his creativity and innovation for his work with the science of parallel computing and for developing novel variants of linear algebra routines and the tools designed to aid in the numerical simulation of computing faults. His published research will continue to contribute to the advancement in the science of solving computationally complex problems.
Coleman started with NSWCDD about eight years ago, eventually becoming involved with the research programs via the ILIR research program, where he has worked for the past four years.
“There are lots of people I’d like to thank,” said Coleman, “my wife, Sara, for tolerating me spending more time than I probably should working and always being incredibly supportive, all of my immediate supervisors for being very encouraging and allowing me a lot of freedom in balancing my research endeavors with program specific work, and the ILIR committee at NSWC Dahlgren.”
Coleman continued: “I also want to thank Dr. Jeff Solka, for believing in me and my research, and giving me the funding and support I needed to execute research, and my collaborators at Old Dominion University, especially Dr. Masha Sosonkina, for all the cooperation and help along the way.”
Naval Surface and Undersea Warfare Centers Commander Rear Adm. Kevin Byrne said of the awardees: “Each year winners are selected by the Warfare Centers Board of Directors, based on recommendations from a panel of representatives including division commanding officers, technical directors and other personnel. Bravo Zulu to our 2020 winners!”