Gropp Receives R&D 100 Award for PETSc

University of Illinois computer science professor William Gropp has received an R&D 100 award for PETSc, a tool he co-authored at Argonne National Laboratory, and one of the leading packages for scientific computing on highly parallel computers. Judged by R&D magazine, the awards recognize the top scientific and technological innovations of the past year.

From the Argonne National Lab website:

“PETSc, [also known as Portable Extensible Toolkit for Scientific Computation], is designed to allow engineers and scientists to perform large-scale numerical simulations of physical phenomena rapidly and efficiently. Representative simulations to date include fluid flow for aircraft, ship, and automobile design; blood flow simulation for medical device design; porous media flow for oil reservoir simulation for energy development and groundwater contamination modeling; modeling of materials properties; economic modeling; structural mechanics for construction design; combustion modeling; and nuclear fission and fusion for energy development. These simulations allow the effects of design decisions to be evaluated and compared, including cost benefits, safety concerns, and environmental impact.

The ability to perform simulations allows corporations and governmental agencies to replace costly and dangerous experiments and prototypes. Simulations have led to many new products as well as improvements in existing products.”