Dr. John Turner
Computational Engineering Program Director
Oak Ridge National Laboratory

Opportunities Presented by the Convergence of High-Performance Computing and Data Science for Applied DOE Offices

ABSTRACT: Computational platforms, such as Summit and Frontier, provide unique opportunities to address challenges faced by applied DOE offices such as the Advanced Manufacturing Office (AMO), Vehicle Technologies Office (VTO), and Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) in EERE, as well as Nuclear Energy (NE), Fossil Energy (FE), etc. Programs and projects such as the Exascale Computing Project (ECP) and High-Performance Computing for Energy Innovation (HPC4EI, which includes HPC4Mfg, HPC4Mtls, and HPC4Mobility) are increasingly investing in both the development of capabilities and the application of those capabilities to industry challenges. We will describe these programs, some projects currently in progress, and promising future directions.

BIOGRAPHY: Dr. John A. Turner has almost 30 years of experience applying computational science to challenging problems ranging from nuclear energy and stockpile stewardship to battery safety. He is currently the Computational Engineering Program Director, focusing on bringing advanced computational science expertise and resources to applied energy challenges. He is a Distinguished R&D Staff Member at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), ORNL lead for the High Performance Computing for Energy Innovation Program (HPC for Manufacturing, HPC for Materials, and HPC for Mobility) and Principal Investigator for two Exascale Computing Projects (Additive Manufacturing – ExaAM - and Accelerated Libraries for Exascale – ALExa). In the past, Dr. Turner has served as Group Leader for Computational Engineering & Energy Sciences, Chief Computational Scientist for the Consortium for Advanced Simulation of Light-Water Reactors (CASL), and Principal Investigator for the Consortium for Advanced Battery Simulation (CABS). He is a Joint Faculty Professor in both the Bredesen Center for Interdisciplinary Research and Graduate Education at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville and the National Center for Computational Engineering at the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga. John received his Ph.D. in Nuclear Engineering from North Carolina State University in 1990. Until 1997 he worked at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), when he joined Blue Sky Studios, earning credits on the Academy Award nominated feature film “Ice Age” and the Oscar-winning short animated film “Bunny”. In 2001 he returned to LANL, and since 2008 has been at ORNL.