Ray Bair

Before retiring, I developed new computational science strategies, programs and facilities across Argonne National Laboratory to realize the potential that large-scale computation has to address grand challenges in basic science, energy systems, and environmental management. For example, I collaborated with colleagues at Argonne, other U.S. Department of Energy labs, and industry to execute DOE's exascale vision. In 2006-7 I led the establishment of the Argonne Leadership Computing Facility. We developed and deployed an IBM Blue Gene supercomputer, created the facilities to house it, and a new division to operate the facility for the scientific community. Today, I direct Argonne's institutional research computing center, the Laboratory Computing Resource Center. My research interests lie at the confluence of computer science, computational and laboratory research, with an emphasis on large-scale applications of high-performance computing for modeling, simulation and data analysis. This includes new computer architectures optimized for these applications. I earned a Ph.D. In Chemistry at Caltech, with a focus on high performance quantum chemistry methods and their applications. At BioDesign, I led development of interactive molecular modeling software for the pharmaceutical, chemical and polymer industries. At Pacific Northwest National Laboratory I was instrumental in establishing the Molecular Science Computing Facility for DOE’s new Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory. I also lead EMSL’s Computing and Information Sciences Directorate, with R&D in collaboratories, instrument development, high performance computing, and scientific data management. Specialties: Technical program development. Strategic planning. Organizational development. Ground-up, high-end computer facility development and operation. Large scale simulations on parallel computers. Molecular science.