image: Lois Curfman McInnes is a senior computational scientist and Argonne Distinguished Fellow whose research focuses on high performance computational science.
Credit: (Image by Argonne National Laboratory.)
Lois Curfman McInnes, a senior computational scientist and Argonne Distinguished Fellow in the Mathematics and Computer Science division at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory, has been selected as a 2024 DOE Office of Science Distinguished Scientist Fellow.
McInnes was honored for exceptional accomplishments in innovative algorithms and software; leadership in major projects, including the Exascale Computing Project (ECP); promotion of scientific productivity and software sustainability; and outstanding efforts to broaden participation in high performance computing and related science and engineering.
“I am deeply honored to receive this fellowship from the Office of Science,” McInnes said. “I have been fortunate to work with top colleagues on exciting projects ranging from advanced numerical libraries for large-scale scientific applications to community collaboration on sustainable software ecosystems.”
McInnes has an impressive track record of leadership. From 2020 to 2023 she was deputy director for the Software Technology area of ECP and served on the leadership team of the ECP Broadening Participation Initiative, established in 2021 to address workforce challenges in high performance scientific computing.
She also co-led the IDEAS project promoting high-quality scientific software, as well as outreach initiatives including the Better Scientific Software hub. Currently she is co-PI of PESO, a five-year project to provide software libraries and tools for critical DOE applications, and serves on the leadership team of the Consortium for the Advancement of Scientific Software. McInnes also was co-author of a paper on software methodology that was included in the DOE Office of Science’s 40th anniversary collection of the top 40 papers that “changed the face of science.”
“This recognition is a testament to Lois’s extraordinary contributions to the field of high performance computing and her commitment to advancing scientific collaboration and software sustainability,” said Argonne Laboratory Director Paul K. Kearns. “Her work in developing advanced numerical software libraries and fostering a more welcoming computing community has not only propelled our scientific capabilities forward but has also inspired many emerging researchers across disciplines. Congratulations to Lois on earning this fellowship.”
The DOE fellows are selected from DOE national laboratories based on their outstanding scientific leadership; engagement with research communities; mentoring of early career scientists; and commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion. Each fellow receives $1 million over three years for continuing research on a particular topic. McInnes plans to use the fellowship award to explore the impact of emerging artificial intelligence (AI) technologies and the ways communities can collaborate in developing and managing reusable software and applications. This work will help increase understanding of the changes needed for scientific computing in an AI-driven future.
“The complexity of next-generation scientific challenges, advanced computing architectures, and integrated research infrastructure has made collaboration across disciplines and institutions essential,” McInnes said. “Many projects engage multiple teams, or teams of teams, where high-quality scientific software — which encapsulates expertise across disciplines for use by others — is a primary means of sustained collaboration.”
McInnes received her Ph.D. in applied mathematics from the University of Virginia in 1993. After serving as a DOE Distinguished Postdoctoral Fellow at Argonne, she joined the laboratory as a regular staff member in 1997. Her early work focused on developing scalable methods in the Portable, Extensible Toolkit for Scientific Computing. She received the 2015 SIAM/ACM Prize in Computational Science & Engineering, a 2009 R&D 100 Award, and the E.O. Lawrence Award in 2011 for contributions supporting DOE and its missions.
“McInnes has been a pioneer in promoting scientific productivity and software sustainability and has inspired new outreach programs throughout the community,” said Valerie Taylor, director of Argonne’s Mathematics and Computer Science division and an Argonne Distinguished Fellow. “This award will enable her to explore new avenues for tackling the challenges raised by collaborative computational science.”
In addition to carrying out her research, McInnes will participate in a lecture series given by the four fellows. Her presentation is scheduled for Feb. 10, 2025, from 1:30 to 3 p.m. ET; register here to attend the virtual talk.
Learn more about McInnes in this recent Science in Parallel podcast episode.
Argonne National Laboratory seeks solutions to pressing national problems in science and technology by conducting leading-edge basic and applied research in virtually every scientific discipline. Argonne is managed by UChicago Argonne, LLC for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Science.
The U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Science is the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States and is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information, visit https://energy.gov/science.