With his background in computer science, Mbunzama has become a prominent figure in the tech landscape of sub-Saharan Africa, particularly within areas of disinformation analysis, AI/ML, and cybersecurity, and his goal is to drive innovation and digital resilience in the region. He has been instrumental in leading various projects that have advanced AI applications, harnessed blockchain for transformative solutions, enhanced cybersecurity, and leveraged cloud computing for efficiency.

Driving Technological Progress

Mbunzama actively promotes knowledge sharing, mentors emerging talents, and collaborates with local and international stakeholders to drive technological progress in the DRC. Read more to find out how HPC has shaped Mbunzama’s career.

Narcisse Mbunzama

Founder, Digital Security Group

Narcisse on LinkedIN

Q: What single event most made you realize you wanted a career in HPC/computing?

Mbunzama: The decision to pursue a career in HPC/computing has been influenced by my participation on a research project that involved heavy computational simulations.

Q: What do you consider your biggest contribution to the HPC/computing community?

Mbunzama: My participation on several projects related to big data and cloud computing, where large-scale data have been processed and analyzed in the Democratic Republic of Congo, are my biggest contributions to the HPC/computing community.

Q: In the past 35 years, what is the most significant overlooked breakthrough that has impacted the field in your eyes?

Mbunzama: Personally, I think that the development of parallel computing concepts—the idea of parallel computing, where multiple processors work together to solve a problem—is foundational to HPC. Innovations in parallel computing architectures, algorithms, and programming paradigms, like MPI and OpenMP, that have been critical in making HPC systems more efficient and scalable, are the most significant innovations in the field.

Dan’s journey began with a focus on high-performance computing, leading him to work on numerous initiatives that bridge scientific research and advanced technologies. His leadership at various institutions and his work as an NSF program officer have been instrumental in fostering collaboration between different disciplines, bringing together experts to solve complex challenges.

Beyond his technical prowess, Dan’s commitment to open science, research software sustainability, and data sharing is evident in his advocacy for the importance of transparent and accessible research. This dedication is evident through his involvement in creating policies that encourage open-source software, data sharing, and reproducibility, thereby shaping the future of scientific research.

Dan’s role as an educator at the University of Illinois further solidifies his impact. By mentoring students and collaborating with fellow researchers, he imparts his vast knowledge and enthusiasm for computational science to the next generation. This dedication to education ensures that his influence extends beyond his own work, leaving a lasting mark on the wider scientific community.

Advancing Research & Innovation

Dan stands as a luminary in the world of computational and data-enabled science. His technical expertise, commitment to open science, and passion for education collectively underscore his significant contributions to advancing research and innovation in the digital age. In this I Am HPC blog, Dan graciously shares with us.

Daniel S. Katz

Chief Scientist, NCSA, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Daniel on LinkedIN

Q: What single event most made you realize you wanted a career in HPC/computing?

Katz: I was excited as a graduate student to realize the power of computational simulation to model the physical world to make it understandable and predictable, and quickly realized that HPC was essential to using simulation for understanding of the world with detail and at scale.

Q: What do you consider your biggest contribution to the HPC/computing community?

Katz: Raising awareness about the importance of research software—that it must be maintained by people in order to continue to be useful over time, and that those people (many of whom are now known as Research Software Engineers or RSEs) need to have career paths in academia as well as national labs, and that these career paths depend on the use and impact of their work being seen, measured, and valued.

Q: In the past 35 years, what is the most significant overlooked breakthrough that has impacted the field in your eyes?

Katz: The commoditization of HPC at many levels, from the systems (starting with the Beowulf project and moving through GPUs) to the usage modalities (such as cloud and AI/ML).

Q: What would you like to see change about, within, or among the HPC/computing community?

Katz: While there have been improvements during my career, we still need much more work on diversity, ranging from demographics (e.g., gender, ethnic background, etc.) to discipline (e.g., STEM vs. other fields) to opportunities (e.g., students in non-research-focused universities and community colleges). The best ideas aren’t limited to those who are currently in HPC, but also exist in those who aren’t in HPC and may not even be aware of it.

Dan Katz (left) with 2023 REU students and team members.

Dan Katz, Chief Scientist, NCSA (right) with Bill Gropp, Director, NCSA.

Who Is Your HPC Hero?

Send your suggestions to the SC23 Communications Team. Share their name and a brief description of why they’re your HPC hero.

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Unsung Impacts of Virtualization

Hossen counts the emergence and widespread adoption of virtualization technology as one of the most overlooked yet profoundly transformative breakthroughs of the last 35 years. This technology’s seismic impact on resource management and the democratization of HPC has laid the groundwork for an uncharted era of innovation. Through the creation of virtual clusters, virtualization has effectively dismantled the barriers of dedicated physical infrastructure, thereby enabling widespread access to HPC resources and nurturing novel avenues for scientific exploration.

Hossen’s perspective underscores the pressing need for a comprehensive blend of theoretical knowledge and hands-on expertise in cutting-edge technologies to fully exploit the potential of these advancements. He envisions a collaborative landscape where institutions come together to formulate standardized curricula, facilitate workshops, establish certifications, and foster a pervasive culture of continuous learning. Such collaborative endeavors are poised to unleash the full potential of virtualization’s unsung impacts and pave the way for a future where technological leaps are both celebrated and effectively harnessed for the betterment of scientific progress.

Md Rajib Hossen

Ph.D. Candidate, The University of Texas at Arlington

Rajib on LinkedIN

Q: What single event most made you realize you wanted a career in HPC/computing?

Hossen: During my undergraduate studies, I participated in a research project focused on big data analysis and management. Through this project, I had the opportunity to work with advanced technologies, such as OpenStack, Ceph, and Hadoop, and witnessed the transformative impact that efficient resource management and automation can have on large-scale computing systems. I was fascinated by the immense computational power and the potential for solving complex problems that HPC offered. This experience ignited my passion for HPC and computing, and I realized I wanted to pursue a career in this field where I could contribute to pushing the boundaries of computational capabilities and enabling breakthrough scientific discoveries.

Q: What do you consider your biggest contribution to the HPC/computing community?

Hossen: I consider my biggest contribution to be my research on resource management for microservices and enabling HPC in cloud computing environments. In particular, my work on developing a comprehensive resource manager for microservices, called PEMA+, has garnered significant attention and recognition in the community. Additionally, my research on market mechanism-based user-in-the-loop power oversubscription for HPC systems addresses the challenges of power surge in oversubscribed clusters. Through these contributions, I aim to advance the field of resource management, scalability, and efficiency in HPC and cloud computing, enabling researchers and practitioners to harness the full potential of these technologies and achieve breakthroughs in scientific and computational domains.

Q: In the past 35 years, what is the most significant overlooked breakthrough that has impacted the field in your eyes?

Hossen: In my opinion, one of the most significant overlooked breakthroughs in the past 35 years that has greatly impacted the field is the development and widespread adoption of virtualization technology. Virtualization revolutionized the way computing resources are managed and utilized, bringing numerous benefits and advancements to various domains, including HPC and cloud computing. The impact of virtualization on HPC has been substantial. It has enabled the creation of virtual clusters, allowing researchers and practitioners to leverage HPC capabilities without the need for dedicated physical infrastructure. This has democratized access to high-performance computing resources and opened up new opportunities for scientific discovery and innovation.

Q: What would you like to see change about, within, or among the HPC/computing community?

Hossen: Continuous education and training are vital in a rapidly evolving field like HPC/computing. There should be more emphasis on providing comprehensive education and training programs to students, researchers, and professionals. This includes both theoretical knowledge and hands-on experience with cutting-edge technologies, tools, and methodologies. Institutions and organizations can collaborate to develop standardized curricula, offer workshops and certifications, and promote lifelong learning. 

Q: Can you share any “words of wisdom” for those navigating the state of HPC today?

Hossen: As a researcher passionate about pushing the boundaries of computational capabilities, I am truly excited about the convergence of high-performance computing, big data analytics, and AI/ML in the cloud. The prospect of seamlessly harnessing the power of these paradigms opens up immense possibilities for tackling complex challenges and accelerating scientific breakthroughs. Enabling HPC workloads in the cloud empowers researchers like me to leverage scalable resources, optimize resource utilization, and drive innovation with cost-effective solutions. It’s a fascinating time to be at the intersection of converging computing disciplines, and I’m eager to explore the limitless potential it offers for advancing computational research.

Who Is Your HPC Hero?

Send your suggestions to the SC23 Communications Team. Share their name and a brief description of why they’re your HPC hero.

Suggest your hero