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PHILIP EMEAGWALI,
a graduate student in civil
engineering and scientific computing, won first prize in
the IEEE Gordon Bell Supercomputing Competition.
Awarded at IEEE's CompCon conference in
February, the prize recognizes outstanding
achievement in using supercomputers to solve
important scientific and engineering problems.
Emeagwali won the contest with his algorithm for oil field simulation. His model for recovering more oil from petroleum reservoirs has far-reaching significance --- recovery of just one percent more oil can translate to one billion dollars in additional revenue for an oil company. Emeagwali spent 12 months programming his algorithm on a supercomputer workstation in the Laboratory for Scientific Computing (LaSC). Through NSFnet, he linked up with supercomputers at Argonne National Laboratory; Los Alamos National Laboratory; the National Supercomputing Center in Champaign. Illinois; and Thinking Machines, a supercomputing think tank in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
One judge called Emeagwali's paper the best-written entry he had ever seen. Emeagwali attributes his solid writing ability to the Technical Communication Program in the College of Engineering. "Technical Communication 610 was the most useful course I have ever taken," he said. "Professor Leslie Olsen, assisted by Eva Stahlheber and Anne Chapple, taught me how to think clearly and to develop and organize my ideas so that others can understand me. Every graduate student should take this course."
According to Professor Olsen, "It is quite an honor for
anyone to win this award, but especially so for a
student. We are all very proud of Emeagwali for this
most outstanding achievement." By Lisa Mooney for Michigan Engineer, (a University of Michigan publication) Spring 1990 ![]() ![]()
Click on emeagwali.com for more information.
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