Timothy J. Tautges

 

Principal Member Technical Staff

Sandia National Laboratories

(telecommuting from UW-Madison)

 

Adjunct Professor

Engineering Physics Department

University of Wisconsin-Madison

 

 

1500 Engineering Drive                                                               Phone: (608) 263-8485

Madison, WI 53706                                                                    FAX: (608) 263-4499

                                                                                                Email: tjtautg@sandia.gov

 

EDUCATION:

 

University of Wisconsin-Madison            Dept. of Nuclear Engineering and                   PhD, 1990

                                                Engineering Physics                 

 

Dissertation: The Parallel Processing of Nuclear Power Plant Severe Accident Simulation Codes

Advisor: Prof. Gregory A. Moses

 

University of Wisconsin-Madison            Dept. of Nuclear Engineering and                   MS, 1989

                                                Engineering Physics                              (GPA: 3.86/4.0)

 

University of Wisconsin-Madison            Dept. of Nuclear Engineering and                   BS, 1985

                                                Engineering Physics                              (GPA: 3.90/4.0)

(Graduated with Highest Distinction)

 

 

 

AWARDS AND HONORS:

 

·         Adjunct Professor, Engineering Physics Department, UW-Madison, 1999-present.

·         Award for Excellence, Sandia National Laboratories, February 23, 1999
(for delivering FEA mesh for radiation hardness certification application).

·         Award for Excellence, Sandia National Laboratories, April 8, 1998
(for technical excellence in certification of MC4380 to hostile environments).

·         Division 9000 Employee Recognition Award (Leadership) nominee, February 4, 1997.

·         DOE Nuclear Engineering Fellowship, 1986-1989.

·         ANS Graduate Student Scholarship, 1987.

·         INPO Undergraduate Scholarship, 1984-1985.

·         UW School of Engineering Fred W. and Josephine H. Colbeck Scholarship, 1984, 1985.

 

 

EMPLOYMENT:

 

2000-present     Adjunct Professor, Instructor (NEEP602/CS838, Parallel & High Perf. Computing)

                        Engineering Physics Department

                        University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI

 

1994-present     Senior, Principal Member Technical Staff

Parallel Computing Sciences Department

Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, NM

 

 

1992-1994                  Senior Member Technical Staff

Thermal Hydraulics Analysis Department

Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, NM

 

1990-1991                  Visiting Scientist

Thermal Hydraulics Group

CEC Joint Research Centre, Ispra, Italy

 

1989-1990         Research Associate

                        Nuclear Engineering & Engineering Physics Dept.

                        University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI

 

Summer 1987    Summer Intern

                        Thermal Hydraulics Analysis Department

                        Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, NM

 

1985-1989                  U.S. Dept. of Energy Nuclear Engineering Fellowship

University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI

 

Summer 1985    Summer Intern

                        Byron Nuclear Power Station

Commonwealth Edison Co., Byron, IL

 

1984-1987                  Reactor Operator

University of Wisconsin Reactor Laboratory

University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI

 

1983-1984                  Grader, ME 367, Thermodynamics

Mechanical Engineering Department

University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI

 

1982-1983                  Student hourly employee

Campus Assistance Center

University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI

 

 

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE:

 

·         CUBIT Project Leader (1996-1998): Served as technical and project lead for the CUBIT Mesh Generation Toolkit Project at Sandia National Laboratories; provided technical vision for mesh generation research and its implementation in the CUBIT code; during my tenure as project leader, the project budget and staff increased approximately 300%; as a result of my leadership, the CUBIT code represents the state of the art in hexahedral mesh generation, and the CUBIT project is now used in the Computational Sciences Center at Sandia National Laboratories as a benchmark of a well-run project with a highly functioning team.

·         CUBIT project member (1994-present): As a member of the CUBIT Mesh Generation Toolkit project, I have been responsible for many areas of research and development in hex mesh generation; some of these include all-hexahedral meshing algorithms, parallel mesh generation, geometric feature recognition and detail reduction, and code architecture and design.

 

·         Thesis advisor, University of Wisconsin-Madison (1996-present): Participating in the technical guidance and advising of three graduate students (two in Mechanical Engineering, one in Engineering Physics depts.).  Under my guidance, students have performed research and implemented that research into CUBIT.  Some of this capability is the foundation of work by at least three other CUBIT project staff.

 

·         High Performance Computing (1988-present): I have been involved in parallel computing in one way or another for over a decade.  I utilized shared memory parallel computing in my dissertation research (Alliant FX/8, Sequent Balance); distributed memory parallel computing during my year in Italy (UNIX workstations, Transputer-based machines); and I have been associated with one of the best-known parallel computing research organizations at Sandia, where I have addressed the pre-processing needs of massively parallel finite element analysis codes.  I am preparing to teach a course on Parallel and High Performance Computing in the Fall semester as part of a new Computational Science Professional Master's degree program at UW-Madison, which I am also helping put into place.

 

·         Member, Steering Committee, 8th, 9th International Meshing Roundtable conference (1998-2000): Serving two-year position on the Steering Committee for the International Meshing Roundtable conference; this is the premier conference on unstructured mesh generation worldwide.  I also served as Technical Chairman for the 4th IMR, and brought about the current Steering Committee-based form of organizing this conference.

·         Developer and Analyst, MELCOR project (1992-1994): As a member of the MELCOR project at Sandia National Laboratories, I participated in the development of MELCOR reactor core models for naval reactors and for the DOE New Production Reactor.  I also performed analyses of the DF-4 and MP-1,2 core melt experiments with MELCOR.

·         Reactor Operator, University of Wisconsin Reactor Laboratory (1984-1987): Performed nuclear reactor operation and maintenance as part of my duties as an NRC-licensed Reactor Operator.

 

 

SERVICE:

 

Short Course Instructor, Mesh Generation for High Performance Computing, SC2000, 2000.

Member, Steering Committee, 8th, 9th International Meshing Roundtable conference, 1998-2000.

Instructor, Mesh Generation Short Course, 8th, 9th International Meshing Roundtable, 1999, 2000.

President, Country Grove Neighborhood Association, Madison, WI, 2000-2001.

Sunday School Teacher (PreK-K), Blackhawk Evangelical Free Church, 1999-2000.

Teacher's Aid (Children's Church), St. Stephens United Methodist Church, Albuquerque, NM, 1997-1998.

Treasurer, American Nuclear Society student chapter, UW-Madison, 1986-1987.

 

 

RESEARCH INTERESTS:

 

·         Hexahedral mesh generation for finite element codes

·         Solid geometry tools and algorithms for mesh generation

·         Parallel geometry and mesh generation tools

·         Solid geometry-enabled computational simulation

·         Model-based simulation

 

RESEARCH & TEACHING PHILOSOPHY:

 

"Learning includes application; application is founded on learning; technical excellence requires both."

 

In order to achieve technical excellence, we as scientists and engineers must strive for balance between theory and application.  Too much theory can lead to problems with relevance; application without theoretical foundation yields brittle, ad-hoc solutions.  This balance can be achieved on an individual basis or, more commonly, is achieved in a team environment.  I am a strong advocate of working in teams, not for the sake of teams themselves, but for the increased productivity that usually results.  I view my roles as researcher and educator as inseparable; this dual purpose not only improves the quantity and quality of my research, but also produces well-rounded graduates, to further advance the state of the art and practice in science and engineering.

 

TEACHING EXPERIENCE:

 

·         Instructor, Parallel and High Performance Computing, NEEP 602/CS 838, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Semester I(Fall) 2000-2001.

·         Short Course Co-Instructor, Mesh Generation for High Performance Computing Part II: Mesh Generation for Massively Parallel-Based Analysis, Supercomputing 2000, November 5, 2000.

·         Short Course Co-Instructor, Geometry Issues in Mesh Generation, 9th International Meshing Roundtable, New Orleans LA, October 2, 2000.

·        Short Course Instructor, New Advances and Open Issues in Hexahedral Mesh Generation, 8th International Meshing Roundtable, Lake Tahoe CA, October 10, 1999. Instructor, The CUBIT Mesh Generation Toolkit, PET Grid Generation Training Class, Waterways Experimental Station, Vicksburg MS, May 12, 1998.