Thomas Zacharia
Associate Laboratory Director
Computing and Computational Sciences
Dr. Zacharia leads the Laboratory's agenda in advanced high-performance computing for national leadership and scientific objectives in priority areas such as climate change, fusion energy, nanotechnology, and biotechnology. He serves as director of the Department of Energy's National Center for Computational Sciences, a state-of-the-art facility for computer science and computational sciences research. The Center was recently named as the site for the National Leadership Computing Facility, which will, in the words of Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham, "deliver major research breakthroughs, significant technological innovations, medical and health advances, enhanced economic competitiveness, and improved quality of life for the American people."
Dr. Zacharia joined the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in 1987 as a postdoctoral researcher in the Metals and Ceramics Division. He formed the Materials Modeling and Simulation Group and served as group leader until he accepted the position of division director of the Computer Science and Mathematics Division in 1998. He served as Deputy Associate Laboratory Director for High Performance Computing from 2000 to 2001. He was named Associate Laboratory Director for the newly formed Computing and Computational Sciences Directorate in 2001. He holds a B.S. in mechanical engineering from Regional Technical College in Karnataka, India, an M.S. in materials science from the University of Mississippi in Oxford, Mississippi, and a Ph.D. in engineering science from Clarkson University in Potsdam, New York. He holds two U.S. patents and is author or co-author of more than 100 publications on high-performance computing for manufacturing processes, including superplastic forming, casting and solidification, and the stamping process.
Awards, Honors, and Professional Activities
- Fellow, American Welding Society, 2005
- ORNL Workforce Diversity Award, 2001
- ORNL Leader of the Year Award, 2000
- ORNL Leadership Award, 2000
- Award of Merit in Technical Communication, Society for Technical Communications, 1999
- Lockheed Martin Energy Research President's Award, 1999
- A. F. Davis Silver Medal Award, American Welding Society, 1999
- Distinguished Lecture Award, Nanchang University, China, 1996
- Martin Marietta Energy Systems Technical Achievement Award, 1995
- William Spraragen Award, American Welding Society, 1995 and 1989
- Champion H. Mathewson Award (co-author citation), American Society for Metals, 1994
- Department of Energy Advanced Technology Award, 1993
- Advisory Board, College of Engineering, and Computer Science Advisory Board, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, 2003-present
- High-Performance Computing Advisory Board, Pellissippi State Technical Community College, 2003-present
- Advisory Board, Center for Experimental Research in Computer Systems, Georgia Tech, 2003-present
- Member, System of Laboratories Computing Coordinating Committee (SLCC), 2000-present
- Member, Steering Committee, Energy Sciences Network Research Committee, 2000-present
- Member, School of Computational Science and Information Technology Review Board, Florida State University, 1999-present
- Adjunct Faculty, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, 1997-present
- Visiting Professor, Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, India, 1995-1996
- Adjunct Faculty, Clarkson University, Potsdam, New York, 1991-present
 Office of Science |
Oak Ridge National Laboratory |
 Department of Energy |