Co-director of the Northwestern University/Argonne Institute for Science and Engineering

“A Disturbance in the Continuum”

Thursday 16 February 2023, 2.10pm – 2.50pm

Abstract

For decades, the computing continuum was simple — large scientific instruments and distributed sensor networks produced data, and advanced networking moved the data into data center repositories. “Data Movers” and networks built around a “Science DMZ” architecture were commonplace. However, bucolic computing in the HPC Shire has been permanently disrupted. Computation is no longer satisfied living in the data center, but wanders off to find adventure. Edge computing has upended traditional computation models — artificial intelligence can be run on the tops of mountains, on street corners in Chicago, and in the frozen land of Utqiagvik. From the Gold Coast of the West Island to the lands of the Ojibwe, edge computing and artificial intelligence has brought new adventures to the computing continuum. Climate, atmospheric, and environmental science are reimagining distributed sensing with AI-driven edge computing. What are the most monumental challenges for AI@Edge computation? Come and join the adventure to find out.

Bio

Pete Beckman is the co-director of the Northwestern University/Argonne Institute for Science and Engineering and is a recognized global expert in high-end computing systems. During the past 25 years, his research has been focused on software and architectures for large-scale parallel and distributed computing systems.

For the DOE’s Exascale Computing Project, Beckman leads the Argonne team focused on extreme-scale operating systems and run-time software. He is the founder and leader of the Waggle project for smart sensors and edge computing that is used by the Array of Things project.

Beckman also coordinates the collaborative technical research activities in extreme-scale computing between the US Department of Energy and Japan’s ministry of education, science, and technology and helps lead the BDEC (Big Data and Extreme Computing) series of international workshops.

Beckman leads the extreme computing research activities at Argonne National Laboratory. He received his PhD in computer science from Indiana University.

Slides