Alum Receives IEEE's Prestigious Sidney Fernbach Memorial Award
The University of California, Davis, alum William M. Tang has received the Sidney Fernbach Memorial Award from the IEEE Computer Society. Tang earned his Ph.D. from the College of Engineering through research carried out at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in partnership with the former Department of Applied Science.
The annual award is one of the highest honors given by the society and recognizes outstanding contributions to the application of high-performance computers using innovative approaches. It is named after Sidney Fernbach, one of the most influential scientists in high-performance computers.
The IEEE Computer Society selected Tang for his pioneering contributions to fusion energy research accelerated by high-performance computing and deep learning.
One example of his research's impact is his work to exceed "breakeven" fusion power by a factor of 10 or more. In the quest for limitless clean energy via fusion — one of the world's most prominent grand challenges — Tang's seminal effort in successfully using the powerful artificial intelligence and deep learning approach to accelerate predictive progress is crucial for success.
Tang is currently a principal research physicist at the U.S. Department of Energy's Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, a position he has held for five decades. He is also a lecturer with the rank of professor in the Department of Astrophysical Sciences at Princeton University.
