Group Leader – Workflow and Ecosystem Services. National Center for Computational Sciences. Oak Ridge National Laboratory. US
“Building Next-Generation Scientific Workflows for Autonomous Research Facilities”
19 February 2025
Abstract
The landscape of scientific workflows is undergoing a transformative shift as research facilities evolve towards greater autonomy and intelligence. This presentation examines emerging trends and challenges in scientific workflows, with particular emphasis on the convergence of AI/ML with HPC systems, time-sensitive operations, and multi-facility integrations. Drawing from recent community discussions and Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility’s experiences, we explore how modern workflows are adapting to handle unprecedented data volumes, near real-time processing requirements, and complex cross-facility collaborations. Special attention is given to OLCF’s efforts in supporting the Department of Energy’s Integrated Research Infrastructure initiative and the Labs of the Future vision, including the development of standardized protocols for authentication, data movement, and workflow orchestration across distributed research environments. The presentation highlights key technical challenges and proposed solutions for creating sustainable, AI-enhanced workflow ecosystems that can effectively bridge traditional scientific methods with autonomous laboratory operations, while maintaining essential human oversight and scientific rigor.
Bio
Dr. Rafael Ferreira da Silva leads the Workflow and Ecosystem Services group at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. He serves as a Senior Research Scientist in the National Center for Computational Sciences. His expertise lies in parallel and distributed computing systems for scientific workflows. He specializes in scheduling, optimization, fault tolerance, and energy efficiency across cloud, edge, and HPC platforms. Dr. Ferreira da Silva is the Special Content Editor for Future Generation Computer Systems journal and holds senior memberships in IEEE and ACM. As Founder and Executive Director of the Workflows Community Initiative, he brings researchers together to advance workflow management and applications.
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