Bradley K. Alpert is a computational scientist at NIST

National Institute of Standards and Technology

The National Institute of Standards and Technology , known between 1901 and 1988 as the National Bureau of Standards , is a measurement standards laboratory, otherwise known as a National Metrological Institute , which is a non-regulatory agency of the United States Department of Commerce...

. He is probably best known for co-developing fast spherical filters. His fast spherical filters were (and remain) critical in the construction of the most efficient three-dimensional fast multipole methods (FMMs)

Fast Multipole Method

The fast multipole method is a mathematical technique that was developed to speed up the calculation of long-ranged forces in the n-body problem...

 for solving the Helmholtz equation

Helmholtz equation

The Helmholtz equation, named for Hermann von Helmholtz, is the elliptic partial differential equation\nabla^2 A + k^2 A = 0where ∇2 is the Laplacian, k is the wavenumber, and A is the amplitude.-Motivation and uses:...

 and Maxwell's equations

Maxwell's equations

Maxwell's equations are a set of partial differential equations that, together with the Lorentz force law, form the foundation of classical electrodynamics, classical optics, and electric circuits. These fields in turn underlie modern electrical and communications technologies.Maxwell's equations...

. Other well-known work of his includes contributions to computational methods for time-domain wave propagation, quadratures for singular integrals, and multiwavelets.

Alpert was awarded the 2006 Flemming Award

Arthur S. Flemming Award

The Arthur S. Flemming Award was established in 1948 to honor outstanding federal employees. Recognized by the President of the United States, agency heads, and the private sector, the winners are selected from all areas of the federal service. More than 500 individuals have received the award to...

 for his work on spherical filters and his other contributions to scientific computing. He was awarded a Bronze Medal from the U.S. Department of Commerce

United States Department of Commerce

The United States Department of Commerce is the Cabinet department of the United States government concerned with promoting economic growth. It was originally created as the United States Department of Commerce and Labor on February 14, 1903...

 in 1997 for joint work on processing antenna measurements corrupted by errors in the positions of probes.

Alpert worked as a casualty actuary

Actuary

An actuary is a business professional who deals with the financial impact of risk and uncertainty. Actuaries provide expert assessments of financial security systems, with a focus on their complexity, their mathematics, and their mechanisms ....

 early in his career, and was a Hans Lewy postdoctoral fellow at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

The Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory , is a U.S. Department of Energy national laboratory conducting unclassified scientific research. It is located on the grounds of the University of California, Berkeley, in the Berkeley Hills above the central campus...

 and U.C. Berkeley

University of California, Berkeley

The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...

.

External links

• Bradley K. Alpert's home page