Disputation: Luk Bjarne Burchard

Doctoral candidate Luk Bjarne Burchard at the Department of Informatics, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, is defending the thesis Repurposing Domain-specific Hardware Accelerators for Sparse and Irregular High-Performance General-Purpose Computation for the degree of Philosophiae Doctor.

Picture of the candidate

Photo: Xinyi Wang

Trial lecture

“The impact of increasingly diverse computer architectures on scientific codes, with a particular focus on performance portability”

Time and place: December 12, 2023 11:15 AM, Simula Research Laboratory, Hans Petter Langtangen Lecture Hall (Kristian Augusts Gate 23)

 

Main research findings

This research delves into the potential of Graphcore's IPU AI-optimized architecture in the realm of High-Performance Computing (HPC). Focusing on solving complex challenges like sparse systems and irregular applications, the dissertation contributes to HPC systems and application design, backed by rigorous empirical evaluation.The core objective is to evaluate the applicability of recent AI advancements to the field of HPC, with a specific focus on sparse and irregular applications. The thesis leverages empirical research, encompassing detailed experiments and analysis. This not only demonstrates how applications can seamlessly integrate with the AI accelerator but also highlights potential challenges and limitations associated with its use.In a world increasingly reliant on high-performance computing, this work's findings carry implications for both the scientific and technological communities. By bridging the gap between AI-specific architectures and HPC, the dissertation paves the way for more efficient problem-solving in diverse applications, offering insights for future advancements in this critical intersection of fields.

 

Adjudication committee:

  • Professor Simon McIntosh-Smith, School of Computer Science, University of Bristol, UK

  • Professor Ana-Lucia Varbanescu, Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science, University of Twente, The Netherlands

  • Professor Geir Kjetil Sandve, Department of Informatics, University of Oslo, Norway

Supervisors

  • Professor Xing Cai, Simula Research Laboratory/ Department of Informatics, University of Oslo, Norway 
  • Research Scientist Johannes Langguth, Simula Research Laboratory, Norway 
  • Professor Are Magnus Bruaset, Simula Research Laboratory/ Department of Informatics, University of Oslo, Norway 

Chair of defence:

Andreas Austeng

 

Candidate contact information: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lukburchard/ 

Contact information at Department: Pernille Adine Nordby 

Published Nov. 28, 2023 1:13 PM - Last modified Nov. 28, 2023 1:13 PM