Sylvain Nintcheu Fata
Young African Leaves Home to Further Mathematical and Computer Science Knowledge in the United States
A participant in the ORNL Postdoctoral Research Associates Program, Sylva Nintcheu Fata is helping to develop improved mathematical tools used in large-scale computer models that will reduce computational input and uploading time.
Interest in nature and the evolution of physical processes has taken Sylvain Nintcheu Fata around the world in his search for knowledge and far from his home in Cameroon, Africa. A participant in the ORNL Postdoctoral Research Associates Program this summer, Nintcheu Fata’s road to Tennessee has been one of focus and determination but also of great sacrifice.
Based on an advisor’s recommendation to consider a top mathematics and physics school in Russia, Nintcheu Fata applied and was accepted. At age 17, he left his family in Africa and moved nearly 4,000 miles away.
After receiving his bachelor’s and master’s of science degrees in mechanics and mathematics at Moscow State University in 1998 and after working summers in Germany to fund his education, Nintcheu Fata heard about an opportunity in civil engineering in the United States at the University of Minnesota (UMN). He applied and was accepted via a full paid Sommerfeld Fellowship, a program available through UMN’s Department of Civil Engineering. Nintcheu Fata received a Ph.D. in civil engineering from UMN in 2003.
His educational exploration did not end in the Midwest. After graduate school, Nintcheu Fata applied to ORNL’s postdoctoral program, which is administered by ORISE. He was offered a position with Dr. Leonard J. Gray in ORNL’s Computer Science and Mathematics Division.
Nintcheu Fata developed and enhanced mathematical tools used with large-scale computer models, thereby enabling computer simulations involving millions of unknowns on easily available computer clusters at a reduced computational time with minimal computer memory usage.
“The ORNL program is a highly distinctive one with outstanding scientific and original achievements,” said Nintcheu Fata. “Participating in this program has been a wonderful experience, and, with my goal of learning new things in a rigorous and unique manner, it has opened new doors of opportunity for my professional career.”