Up in the cloud
Computer science alumna named IBM Fellow for container cloud research
9:34 a.m., April 18, 2016--While she was still an intern at IBM, University of Delaware alumna Gosia Steinder published a paper about an early version of cloud computing technology — well before it was called “cloud.”
Now, more than a decade later, the computer scientist has been named an IBM Fellow for her accomplishments in container cloud research. She joins 10 other innovators in receiving the company’s most prestigious technical honor for their pioneering work in areas including cognitive computing, analytics, cloud, security, and health care.
Honors Stories
National Medal of Science
Warren Award
“As a Ph.D. student at the University of Delaware, I interned at IBM Research in New York for three consecutive summers,” she said. “My first project in the summer of 2000, code-named Oceano, was in fact an early attempt at cloud computing — way before anyone actually used the term ‘cloud computing.’”
“We were building a prototype for utility computing, to make computing resources available like electricity at the flip of a switch. My job was to figure out a scheme to correlate infrastructure-level events with user-observable symptoms. The goal was to simplify and automate the diagnosis of problems that happen in such complex systems. This was quite innovative at the time.”
Since then, Steinder has pioneered a number of important concepts and technologies in workload and resource management for hybrid cloud and data centers. According to a company press release, “her work has enabled IBM clients to greatly simplify the lifecycle management of their applications by removing the need for manual intervention in deploying, scaling and managing availability of applications.”
In announcing the selections, IBM CEO Ginni Rometty said, “These extraordinary men and women join a select community made up of some of the world’s most creative thinkers. Our new IBM Fellows play a critical role in defining the next era of technology, business and society, with vital contributions to IBM’s position as the world’s leading cognitive solutions and cloud platform company.”
Steinder, who is a distinguished research staff member at IBM’s Thomas J. Watson Research Center in Yorktown Heights, New York, is co-inventor on 26 patents.
As a doctoral student at UD, she received the Allan P. Colburn Prize for Best Dissertation in Engineering and Mathematical Sciences, the Frank Pehrson Award for Outstanding Graduate Student in the Department of Computer and Information Sciences, and a Best Paper Award at the 23rd Army Science Conference. She was advised by Prof. Adarsh Sethi.
About the award
The IBM Fellow distinction is conferred in recognition of exceptional and sustained technical achievements and leadership in engineering, programming, services, science, technology and industry solutions.
Every year since 1962, the IBM CEO has honored a handful of its outstanding technologists, researchers and scientists with the unique distinction of IBM Fellow. Today, IBM is announcing the 2016 IBM Fellows in recognition of exceptional technical achievements and leadership.
The program was founded in 1962 by Thomas J. Watson, Jr. to promote creativity among the company’s most exceptional technical professionals. IBM has named 278 Fellows since the program’s inception. Collectively, IBM Fellows have 9,329 patents.
To be awarded IBM’s pre-eminent technical honor, an employee must meet four important criteria: sustained innovation in some of the world’s most important technologies; significant recognition as a leader among IBM's technical communities; broad industry acknowledgement of the individual’s accomplishments; and a strong history of new technologies and business models being deployed at scale.
IBM Fellows are granted the opportunity to dedicate significant time to free-form exploration and innovation in their areas of expertise.
Article by Diane Kukich
Image courtesy of IBM