Ian Foster
Encyclopedia
Ian Foster is a Distinguished Fellow and the Associate Division Director in the Mathematics
and Computer Science
Division at Argonne National Laboratory
, where he leads the Distributed Systems Laboratory, and he is a Professor in the Department of Computer Science at the University of Chicago
. He is also involved with both the Open Grid Forum
and with the Globus Alliance
as an open source
strategist. In 2006, he was appointed director of the Computation Institute, a joint project between the University of Chicago, and Argonne
. An earlier project, Strand
, received the British Computer Society Award for technical innovation.
His research resulted in the development of techniques, tools and algorithms for high-performance distributed computing
and parallel computing
. As a result he is denoted as “the father of the Grid”. Foster led research and development of software for the I-WAY wide-area distributed computing experiment, which connected supercomputers, databases and other high-end resources at 17 sites across North America
in 1995. His own labs, the Distributed Systems Laboratory is the nexus of the multi-institute Globus Project
, a research and development effort that encourages collaborative computing by providing advances necessary for engineering, business and other fields. Furthermore the Computation Institute addresses many of the most challenging computational and communications problems facing Grid implementations today.
In 2004, he founded Univa Corporation, which was merged with United Devices
in 2007.
Foster's honors include the Lovelace Medal
of the British Computer Society
, the Gordon Bell Prize
for high-performance computing (2001), IEEE Tsutomu Kanai Award
(2011), as well as others. He was elected Fellow
of the American Association for the Advancement of Science
in 2003, and a Fellow of the Association for Computing Machinery
in 2009. He is currently serving on the Advisory Board for IOCOM Communications.
Ian is originally from New Zealand
but is now based in the United States. He has three nieces in Sydney, Australia.
Mathematics
Mathematics is the study of quantity, space, structure, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns and formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proofs, which are arguments sufficient to convince other mathematicians of their validity...
and Computer Science
Computer science
Computer science or computing science is the study of the theoretical foundations of information and computation and of practical techniques for their implementation and application in computer systems...
Division at Argonne National Laboratory
Argonne National Laboratory
Argonne National Laboratory is the first science and engineering research national laboratory in the United States, receiving this designation on July 1, 1946. It is the largest national laboratory by size and scope in the Midwest...
, where he leads the Distributed Systems Laboratory, and he is a Professor in the Department of Computer Science at the University of Chicago
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...
. He is also involved with both the Open Grid Forum
Open Grid Forum
The Open Grid Forum is a community of users, developers, and vendors for standardization of grid computing. It was formed in 2006 in a merger of the Global Grid Forum and the Enterprise Grid Alliance. The OGSA, OGSI, and JSDL standards were created by the OGF...
and with the Globus Alliance
Globus Alliance
The Globus Alliance is an international association dedicated to developing fundamental technologies needed to build grid computing infrastructures...
as an open source
Open source
The term open source describes practices in production and development that promote access to the end product's source materials. Some consider open source a philosophy, others consider it a pragmatic methodology...
strategist. In 2006, he was appointed director of the Computation Institute, a joint project between the University of Chicago, and Argonne
Argonne National Laboratory
Argonne National Laboratory is the first science and engineering research national laboratory in the United States, receiving this designation on July 1, 1946. It is the largest national laboratory by size and scope in the Midwest...
. An earlier project, Strand
Strand (programming language)
Strand is a high-level symbolic language for parallel computing, similar in syntax to Prolog.Artificial Intelligence Ltd were awarded the British Computer Society for Strand88.The language was created by computer scientists Ian Foster and Stephen Taylor....
, received the British Computer Society Award for technical innovation.
His research resulted in the development of techniques, tools and algorithms for high-performance distributed computing
Distributed computing
Distributed computing is a field of computer science that studies distributed systems. A distributed system consists of multiple autonomous computers that communicate through a computer network. The computers interact with each other in order to achieve a common goal...
and parallel computing
Parallel computing
Parallel computing is a form of computation in which many calculations are carried out simultaneously, operating on the principle that large problems can often be divided into smaller ones, which are then solved concurrently . There are several different forms of parallel computing: bit-level,...
. As a result he is denoted as “the father of the Grid”. Foster led research and development of software for the I-WAY wide-area distributed computing experiment, which connected supercomputers, databases and other high-end resources at 17 sites across North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
in 1995. His own labs, the Distributed Systems Laboratory is the nexus of the multi-institute Globus Project
Globus Toolkit
The Globus Toolkit, currently at version 5, is an open source toolkit for building computing grids developed and provided by the Globus Alliance.-Standards implementation:The Globus Toolkit is an implementation of the following standards:...
, a research and development effort that encourages collaborative computing by providing advances necessary for engineering, business and other fields. Furthermore the Computation Institute addresses many of the most challenging computational and communications problems facing Grid implementations today.
In 2004, he founded Univa Corporation, which was merged with United Devices
United Devices
United Devices, Inc. was a privately held, commercial distributed computing company that focused on the use of grid computing to manage HPC infrastructures and enterprise cluster management...
in 2007.
Foster's honors include the Lovelace Medal
Lovelace Medal
The Lovelace Medal, established by the British Computer Society in 1998, is presented to individuals who have advanced Information Systems or added significantly to their understanding....
of the British Computer Society
British Computer Society
The British Computer Society, is a professional body and a learned society that represents those working in Information Technology in the United Kingdom and internationally...
, the Gordon Bell Prize
Gordon Bell Prize
The Gordon Bell Prizes are a set of awards awarded by the Association for Computing Machinery in conjunction with the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers each year at the Supercomputing Conference to recognize outstanding achievement in high-performance computing applications...
for high-performance computing (2001), IEEE Tsutomu Kanai Award
Tsutomu Kanai Award
The Tsutomu Kanai Award was established in 1997 by a generous endowment from Hitachi Ltd., and named in honor of Dr. Tsutomu Kanai who serves as Hitachi’s president for 30 years...
(2011), as well as others. He was elected Fellow
Fellow of the AAAS
Fellow of the AAAS is an honor accorded by the American Association for the Advancement of Science to distinguished persons who are members of the Association. Fellows are elected annually by the AAAS Council for "efforts on behalf of the advancement of science or its applications [which] are...
of the American Association for the Advancement of Science
American Association for the Advancement of Science
The American Association for the Advancement of Science is an international non-profit organization with the stated goals of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific responsibility, and supporting scientific education and science outreach for the...
in 2003, and a Fellow of the Association for Computing Machinery
Association for Computing Machinery
The Association for Computing Machinery is a learned society for computing. It was founded in 1947 as the world's first scientific and educational computing society. Its membership is more than 92,000 as of 2009...
in 2009. He is currently serving on the Advisory Board for IOCOM Communications.
Ian is originally from New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
but is now based in the United States. He has three nieces in Sydney, Australia.