The accomplishments of the Exascale Computing Project

Dr. Lori A. Diachin
Principal Deputy Director of Computing
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory

"The accomplishments of the Exascale Computing Project"
Wednesday, May 22, 2024, 3:00-3:40 pm UTC (30min talk + 10min questions)
8 am PDT / 10 am CDT / 11 am EDT / 3 pm UTC / 5 pm CEST / 12 am JST

Watch this webinar here and download the slide deck here!

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Abstract: The duration and scale of the exascale computing project (ECP) provided a unique opportunity to advance computational science in a wide variety of application areas.   The project lasted seven years and funded over one thousand researchers to develop 24 applications, over 70 software products, and deploy them on the exascale computers when they were first deployed at the DOE facilities.    This results in many notable outcomes including:   the first integrated HPC software stack comprising over 100 libraries, performance portable applications refactored for accelerator-based computing architectures, and a new generation of computational scientists exposed to state-of-the-art techniques.  In this talk we will give an overview of the exascale computing project and highlight key legacy outcomes that will impact the computational science community for years to come.   We will also discuss the major outcomes and lessons learned in creating the exascale ecosystem; particularly in algorithm design and implementation for accelerator-based compute nodes, performance portability across a range of platforms, fostering strong collaborations across multidisciplinary teams, and managing and measuring the success of a computational science project of this scale.

Bio: Lori Diachin is the Director for the U.S. Department of Energy's Exascale Computing Project (ECP). ECP is a collaborative Department of Energy effort supported by both the National Nuclear Security Administration and the Office of Science to accelerate the delivery of a capable exascale computing ecosystem for breakthroughs in scientific discovery, energy assurance, economic competitiveness, and national security.  In her role as the Director, Lori is responsible for setting the strategic direction for ECP and ensuring that the project has an impactful and executable plan that delivers on its goals and objectives.

Lori is also serving as the Principal Deputy Associate Director (PDAD) in the Computing Directorate at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. The Computing Directorate has approximately 1400 staff serving the needs of the laboratory in areas ranging from high performance computing, computing sciences for the missions of LLNL, and information technology for business and workforce enablement. In this role, Lori serves as a senior-level advisor to the Computing Associate Director and to division leaders and institute directors on strategies to develop and sustain critical computer and computational capabilities. 

Lori Diachin has over 30 years experience in high performance computing and applied mathematics research where her areas of expertise include mesh quality improvement, mesh component software, numerical methods, and parallel computing. She is the co-author of over 50 technical journal articles, book chapters, and conference proceeding articles in these areas. Before joining LLNL, Lori was a computer scientist at Argonne National Laboratory and a Member of the Technical Staff at Sandia National Laboratory. Lori received her Bachelor's degree in Mathematics from Edinboro University of Pennsylvania in 1988 and her Ph.D. in Applied Mathematics from University of Virginia in 1992. She joined Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in 2003.

Lori Diachin, LLNL