Philip Emeagwali wins 1989
Gordon Bell Supercomputing
Prize
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.
Philip Emeagwali and his Gordon Bell Prize plaque
The Gordon Bell Prize is a high honor in the field of
supercomputing. The contest has been described as a
"supercomputer Olympics," because each year's
winner must break the record set the previous year,
exceeding previous standards for speed, innovation,
and application. Emeagwali's algorithm was judged to
significantly exceed contest standards and
expectations. All previous winning entries have been
collaborative efforts; Emeagwali is the first sole
investigator to win the award. His achievement
represents another important milestone: he is the first
individual from the University of Michigan to receive
the honor.
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
Philip Emeagwali and his Gordon Bell Prize plaque
