Bahar Asgari Receives Department of Energy Early Career Award

Bahar Asgari, assistant professor at the University of Maryland’s Department of Computer Science, has been awarded the renowned Department of Energy (DOE) Early Career Award.

Asgari was one of 93 early career recipients from across the country, representing 47 universities. The award will endow her research endeavors with roughly $875,000 over a five-year span. The accolade serves as a testament to her pioneering research in the field of computer science.

Asgari’s awarded proposal, “Developing Techniques to Enable Intelligent Dynamic Reconfigurable Computing for Sparse Scientific Problems,” offers an innovative approach to computing. Central to her research is the concept of merging hardware and software in a manner reminiscent of the intricate processes of the human brain.

"When I got the news, I was thrilled to be the first from our department to receive it. The award's competitiveness makes it even more significant," Asgari said. "Beyond that, I'm eager to delve into my research. I'm confident it will significantly transform our computational methods."

Asgari's ambition for her research extends beyond just the intricacies of computing. She aims to make scientific computing accessible and efficient for researchers across the board, from students to professionals in various fields.

"In our mission, we want to democratize scientific computing for everyone, be it high school students or experts in diverse engineering fields," Asgari said. "Right now, intricate computations, especially in areas like scientific computing or machine learning, depend on costly systems and can be time-consuming. We saw this during the COVID research phase, where the lengthy computational processes slowed the development of vaccines. Our goal is to expedite these critical computations."

Asgari noted that the DoE's backing will enable her to further her research endeavors in the field. Acknowledging the Department of Energy's commitment to computational and scientific breakthroughs, she emphasized the distinctive opportunity now before her.

"I'm deeply appreciative of the Department of Energy's backing," said Asgari. "My research uniquely bridges computer architecture and scientific computing. This award facilitates the creation of that link, propelling my research interests forward and allowing us to innovate in this intersection."

The DOE Early Career Award remains a gold standard for young researchers nationwide. Asgari's triumph highlights the importance of her contributions to computer science and their potential ripple effect across diverse scientific spheres.

—Story by Samuel Malede Zewdu, CS Communications