The University of Delaware’s Michela Taufer has been elected general chair of the 2019 International Conference for High Performance Computing, Networking, Storage and Analysis (SC19). 

Sponsored by the Association for Computing Machinery and IEEE, SC is the primary international high-performance computing (HPC) conference.

“We are excited to have the benefit of Dr. Taufer’s leadership for SC19,” says John West, director of strategic initiatives at the Texas Advanced Computing Center and chair of the SC Steering Committee.

“This conference has a unique role in our community, and we depend upon the energy, drive, and dedication of talented leaders to keep SC fresh and relevant after nearly 30 years of continuous operation. The Steering Committee also wants to express its gratitude for the commitment that the University of Delaware is making by supporting Michela in this demanding service role.”

Taufer has been involved with the SC conference since 2007 and has served in many roles, including reviewer, technical papers area chair, doctoral showcase chair, and technical program co-chair. She is currently on the Student Cluster Competition Reproducibility committee and the Reproducibility Advisory Board of the Steering Committee. She is the finance chair for 2017, and she was elected to the Steering Committee in 2015. 

In addition to her work with the SC conference, Taufer has been involved in other major conferences in the HPC field. In 2015 she co-chaired the IEEE International Conference on Cluster Computing, and in 2017, she will be general chair of the IEEE International Parallel and Distributed Processing Symposium. 

“This is a well-deserved honor for Prof. Taufer and marks her as one of a few recognized leaders in the field of HPC,” says Kathy McCoy, chair of the Department of Computer and Information Sciences. 

“This bring tremendous recognition to Prof. Taufer and her contributions, and it shines a spotlight on all of Delaware’s HPC efforts. We are thankful for her leadership.”

About the SC conference series

Established in 1988, the annual SC conference has grown in size and impact each year. Approximately 5,000 people participate in the technical program, with about 11,000 people overall.

SC has built a diverse community of participants including researchers, scientists, application developers, computing center staff and management, computing industry staff, agency program managers, journalists, and congressional staffers.

The SC technical program has addressed virtually every area of scientific and engineering research, as well as technological development, innovation, and education. Its presentations, tutorials, panels, and discussion forums have included breakthroughs in many areas and inspired new and innovative areas of computing.