This talk presents my research journey at the intersection of high-performance computing, data science, and interdisciplinary collaboration. I highlight key contributions to scalable and reproducible scientific workflows, including real-time AI-assisted data analysis from national user facilities, provenance-driven computing for Earth science, and in situ trajectory steering for molecular dynamics. I discuss my efforts in democratizing access to scientific computing through the National Science Data Fabric (NSDF), volunteer computing, and cyberinfrastructure development. The talk also explores my leadership in cross-institutional collaborations, workforce development, and promoting community engagement through seed funding initiatives, underscoring a vision to accelerate discovery through computing, data, and interdisciplinary research.
Dr. Michela Taufer is the Jack Dongarra Professor in High-Performance Computing at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and an AAAS Fellow and ACM Distinguished Scientist. She earned her degrees from the University of Padova and ETH Zurich and held a postdoctoral fellowship at UC San Diego and The Scripps Research Institute through the La Jolla Interfaces in Science Program. Her interdisciplinary work spans computational chemistry, computer systems, and scientific applications on both supercomputers and cloud platforms. Taufer’s research blends AI with high-performance computing to support simulations, data analytics, and scalable workflows. She leads several NSF-funded interdisciplinary projects and is committed to mentoring students from diverse backgrounds. A strong advocate for undergraduate research and participation in computing, Taufer also contributes to national leadership efforts through service on the Computing Community Consortium (CCC) and as Vice Chair of ACM SIGHPC, advancing strategic initiatives in computing research and workforce development.