{"453161":{"#nid":"453161","#data":{"type":"news","title":"College of Computing Mourns Loss of Regents\u2019 Professor Karsten Schwan","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003ERegents\u2019 Professor\u0026nbsp;Karsten\u0026nbsp;Schwan, a prolific researcher and faculty leader in the School of Computer Science, passed away Sept. 28, following a battle with cancer.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESchwan, who had taught in Georgia Tech\u2019s College of Computing since 1988, leaves behind more than 70 active Ph.D. students, nine active research projects, 26 software systems, and a legacy of 276 published writings in books, journals, and conference proceedings. He was co-director of the Center for Experimental Research in Computer Systems (CERCS) and of the Interactive High-Performance Computation Laboratory at Georgia Tech, as well as associate editor of two professional journals.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn recent years, much of Schwan\u2019s work involved collaboration with colleagues Ada\u0026nbsp;Gavrilovska, Matt Wolf, and Greg\u0026nbsp;Eisenhauer, all research scientists in the School of Computer Science.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cKarsten was an active and leading figure in a computing, not only through his own contributions, but also through the legacy of his many students who have careers throughout academia and industry,\u201d Wolf said, describing\u0026nbsp;Schwan\u0026nbsp;as a font of boundless energy. \u201cAnd although we talk of students, past and present, I think a more apt term was that he was developing his future collaborators and colleagues.\u0026nbsp; Hierarchies and boundaries didn\u2019t matter much to him, but the people he knew and worked with certainly did.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESchwan\u0026nbsp;earned his undergraduate degree at West Germany\u2019s\u0026nbsp;Christian-Albrechts\u0026nbsp;Universitaet, then came to the United States to complete his master\u2019s and Ph.D. in computer science at Carnegie-Mellon University as a Fulbright Scholar under the German Fulbright Commission. His thesis, \u201cTailoring Software for Multiple Processor Systems,\u201d was selected as one of six theses in 1982 to be printed as a book in the \u201cComputer Science Series\u201d by UMI Research Press.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESchwan\u0026nbsp;immediately began teaching and also developed longstanding research relationships with\u0026nbsp;Sandia\u0026nbsp;National Laboratory, Oak Ridge National Labs, the U.S. Department of Energy, and corporations such as Intel. He was a sought-after consultant for companies such as IBM, Siemens, KSR Corp., and others. His more than 120 research projects throughout his career led to the creation of 26 software systems and honors such as the 2013 R\u0026amp;D 100 Award from Oak Ridge National Labs for ADIOS IO for high-performance computing.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EDavid Bader, chair of the School of Computational Science and Engineering, praised\u0026nbsp;Schwan\u0027s\u0026nbsp;endeavors in high performance computing at Georgia Tech.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Karsten\u0026nbsp;recognized the needs of scientists and engineers by improving high-end computing systems for their use in real applications,\u0022 Bader said.\u0026nbsp;\u0022He will be missed by our community.\u0022\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAssociate Professor\u0026nbsp;Santosh\u0026nbsp;Pande, who was recruited to Georgia Tech by\u0026nbsp;Schwan, learned a\u0026nbsp;great deal about systems research from\u0026nbsp;Schwan\u0027s\u0026nbsp;unique approach to it.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cIn academia, it is especially true that one gets influenced a lot by one\u0027s colleagues in terms of one\u0027s research interests, philosophies and such in our evolution as teachers and researchers,\u201d\u0026nbsp;Pande\u0026nbsp;said. \u201cI learnt about many nuances of systems research from\u0026nbsp;Karsten. His angle on what is important in a problem, systems research-wise, was very unique ... I will deeply miss him.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EProfessor and Chair Lance\u0026nbsp;Fortnow\u0026nbsp;called Schwan\u2019s passing \u201ca huge loss\u201d for the School of Computer Science \u2013 \u201cnot just professionally but because\u0026nbsp;Karsten\u0026nbsp;had such an important influence in the School\u2019s development and has been such a great friend and mentor to many faculty and students,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s very hard to imagine the School without him.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EDean Zvi\u0026nbsp;Galil\u0026nbsp;said\u0026nbsp;Schwan\u0026nbsp;was one of the College\u2019s \u201cforemost researchers\u201d in high-performance computing. \u201cHe leaves behind a legacy of scholarly and academic achievement that would be difficult to match.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIt was his personal character that Wolf will remember from 16 years of working together.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cHe was always one to refocus a conversation, not to dwell on where things had gone wrong, but on how to move forward and make them better,\u201d Wolf added.\u0026nbsp;\u201cHis vision, his insight, his sparkle, and his wit will all be keenly missed.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EDetails about a memorial service by the College of Computing will be forthcoming.\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ERegents\u2019 Professor Karsten Schwan, a prolific researcher and faculty leader in the School of Computer Science at Georgia Tech, passed away Sept. 28, following a battle with cancer.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Regents\u2019 Professor Karsten Schwan, a prolific researcher and faculty leader in the School of Computer Science at Georgia Tech, passed away Sept. 28, following a battle with cancer."}],"uid":"28124","created_gmt":"2015-09-28 16:35:35","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:19:40","author":"Tyler Sharp","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2015-09-29T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2015-09-29T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"349671":{"id":"349671","type":"image","title":"Karsten Schwan compressed","body":null,"created":"1449245696","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 16:14:56","changed":"1475895075","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:51:15","alt":"Karsten Schwan compressed","file":{"fid":"201047","name":"karsten-schwan_0.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/karsten-schwan_0_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/karsten-schwan_0_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":14415,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/karsten-schwan_0_0.jpg?itok=afYFK-Ek"}}},"media_ids":["349671"],"groups":[{"id":"47223","name":"College of Computing"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[{"id":"143031","name":"Karsten Schwan; Zvi Galil; Santosh Vempala; Ada Gavrilovksa; Greg Eisenhauer; Matt Wolf; Oak Ridge National Laboratory; Carnegie Mellon; Lance Fortnow; School of Computer Science"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71871","name":"Campus and Community"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:tlabouff@cc.gatech.edu\u0022\u003ETara La Bouff\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ENews and Media Relations Manager\u003Cbr \/\u003E404.894.7253\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}