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Noted Contributor to Massively Parallel Computation Awarded Seymour Cray Award

Posted on: Monday, 1 October 2007, 12:00 CDT

Kenneth Batcher of Kent State University has been named the recipient of the 2007 Seymour Cray Science & Engineering Award.

This award is given by the IEEE Computer Society for innovative contributions to high performance computer systems that exemplify the creative spirit of Seymour Cray, a computing pioneer who designed and built the world's highest performance general-purpose supercomputers. The award will be presented at SC07, the international conference for high performance computing, networking, storage, and analysis held November 10-16 in Reno, NV. Batcher will give a plenary lecture on November 14 at 1:30 p.m. as part of a special awards session.

Batcher, a Professor of Computer Science at Kent State University, is being recognized for fundamental theoretical and practical contributions to massively parallel computation, which involve distributing jobs across thousands of processors. His work has involved parallel sorting algorithms, interconnection networks, and pioneering designs of the STARAN and MPP computers.

"Dr. Batcher has made seminal contributions to supercomputing architectures and algorithms that truly exemplify the innovative spirit of the late Seymour Cray. Our field is all the richer for his early and enduring achievements," said Steven Ashby, SC07 Awards Chair of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.

Dr. Batcher is probably best known for his early work on sorting networks. He developed the odd-even merge sort and bitonic sort, and showed how each could be implemented in hardware. His "bitonic sort," often called the "Batcher sort," is one of the classic algorithms in the field. He also designed the architectures of two of the earliest single-instruction, multiple-data (SIMD) parallel computers: the STARAN (1972) and the MPP (1983). These hardware designs were among the first commercially successful massively parallel computers. Dr. Batcher also has contributed to the development of the associative computing field, including languages, computational models, and algorithms.

Established in late 1997, the Seymour Cray award recognizes innovative contributions to high performance computing systems that best exemplify the creative spirit of Seymour Cray. A crystal memento, illuminated certificate, and $10,000 honorarium are awarded to recognize innovative contributions to high performance computing systems that best exemplify the creative spirit demonstrated by Seymour Cray.

More information on the presentation is available at http://sc07.supercomp.org/?pg=awards.html.

About SC07

SC07, sponsored by ACM and IEEE, is the premier international conference on high performance computing, networking and storage, and will showcase how high performance computing, networking, storage and analytics lead to advances in research, education and commerce. The conference includes technical and education programs, workshops, tutorials, an exhibit area, demonstrations and hands-on learning.

About IEEE

With nearly 100,000 members (40% of whom reside outside of the United States), the IEEE Computer Society (www.computer.org) is the world's leading organization of computer professionals. Founded in 1946, it is the largest of the 39 societies of the IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers).

The Society is dedicated to advancing the theory, practice, and application of computer and information processing technology. Through its conferences, applications-related and research-oriented journals, local and student chapters, distance learning campus, technical committees, the Society promotes an active exchange of information, ideas, and technological innovation among its members. Its Certified Software Development Professional (CSDP) program feeds the demand for fully trained, competent software engineers as the computer industry has expanded and systems have become more complex and sophisticated requiring higher competence in building quality systems.

The IEEE Computer Society is also known throughout the world as the leading organization for developing technology standards in computing. Its Standards Activities Board provides an organizational framework and conducive environment within which to develop broadly accepted, sound, timely, and technically excellent standards that will advance the theory and practice of computing and information processing science and technology.

Source: Business Wire

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