Newswise — Robert B. Ross, a researcher with the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory, has been named a recipient of the DOE’s prestigious Ernest Orlando Lawrence Award.

The award honors mid-career scientists and engineers for exceptional contributions in research and development that supports the DOE/National Nuclear Security Administration and its mission to advance the national, economic and energy security of the United States.

Ross was recognized for his “numerous and seminal contributions in high-performance computing (HPC), with outstanding contributions and achievements in the fields of parallel input/output, storage, data analysis and communication software which have addressed real-world needs and, in turn, enabled the advancement and research of the DOE’s science community.”

“I am deeply honored to receive this award,” Ross said. “It reflects not only my own achievements but the contributions of my collaborators and the deeply supportive environment offered at Argonne that has enabled me to conduct groundbreaking research.”

Ross’s work has focused on three challenging areas: storage, parallel I/O, and data management and visualization. His accomplishments range from the design of the parallel file system PVFS, to development of application I/O interfaces enabling deployment of I/O optimizations, and to high-fidelity simulations for exploring new system software designs.

Most recently, he has contributed to the provision of tools necessary for application scientists to better understand the results of their file system access decisions and test them on current and future large-scale systems.

“Robert is a true leader with an impressive record of achievements, technical and organizational leadership, and creativity in addressing critical problems in the areas of parallel input/output, storage, data analysis and communication software,” said Rick Stevens, associate laboratory director of Argonne’s Computing, Environment and Life Sciences directorate. “We at Argonne are proud that DOE has recognized his work, and we look forward to his continuing accomplishments in the emerging exascale era.”

Ross received his Ph.D. in computer engineering from Clemson University in 2000, and joined Argonne that same year as an Enrico Fermi Scholar. Currently a senior computer scientist in Argonne’s Mathematics and Computer Science (MCS) division, Ross also holds appointments with the Northwestern-Argonne Institute for Science and Engineering and the University of Chicago Consortium for Advanced Science and Engineering.

His research accomplishments are complemented by his leadership in the DOE community. Ross currently is director of the DOE SciDAC RAPIDS Institute, focusing on community outreach to support scientists with application development. He also served as director of SciDAC’s Institute of Scalable Data Management, Analysis and Visualization and associate director of its Institute of Ultra-Scale Visualization.

His work has earned him numerous awards, including the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientist and Engineers and two R&D 100 awards. He was also named by the U.S. National Academy of Sciences as a Kavli Fellow.

 “Ross is an extraordinary researcher and computer scientist,” said Valerie Taylor, director of MCS. “His innovative methods have transformed the way scientists use file systems and manage I/O, and his leadership of major projects continues to have a profound impact on the parallel computing community.”

The E.O. Lawrence award includes a citation signed by the Secretary of Energy, a gold medal bearing the likeness of physicist and Nobel Laureate Ernest Orlando Lawrence, and $20,000. The award will be presented at 1 p.m. EST on Tuesday, Jan. 19, broadcast virtually from Washington D.C.

For more information on the E.O. Lawrence Awards, see the announcement on the DOE website.

Argonne National Laboratory seeks solutions to pressing national problems in science and technology. The nation’s first national laboratory, Argonne conducts leading-edge basic and applied scientific research in virtually every scientific discipline. Argonne researchers work closely with researchers from hundreds of companies, universities, and federal, state and municipal agencies to help them solve their specific problems, advance America’s scientific leadership and prepare the nation for a better future. With employees from more than 60 nations, Argonne is managed by UChicago Argonne, LLC for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Science.

The U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Science is the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States and is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information, visit https://energy.gov/science.