From: Anthony Giunta Date: Thu, 12 Dec 2002 16:52:07 -0700 Subject: Positions at Sandia National Laboratories Career Opportunities in Optimization and Uncertainty Quantification New or experienced PhD researchers are sought in the following areas: - Global Optimization - Uncertainty Quantification including sampling, analytic reliability and other stochastic methods - Optimization Under Uncertainty - Large-Scale PDE-Constrained Optimization (simultaneous analysis and design) - Multi-Physics / Multi-Scale Optimization Candidates should have world-class expertise in at least one of the above topics, and a PhD in mathematics, computer science, engineering or operations research, with a high GPA. Candidates should enjoy working in a collaborative, multi-disciplinary environment. Activities will involve a mixture of research and development leading to publications, general tools, and specialized applications. Candidates must have an interest in providing solutions that change the engineering decision-making and assessment processes within Sandia National Laboratories, and extending the frontiers of knowledge in the broader scientific computing community. Software experience with massively parallel (distributed memory) scientific computing, C++, Unix, and large-scale software frameworks and libraries is desired. Sandia National Labs frequently applies optimization to designs whose response is modeled by complex multi-physics simulations involving millions of finite elements. The next great leap in analysis fidelity is incorporating uncertainty into these already-difficult simulations. Sandia offers a unique set of challenging application problems for the researcher interested in the general areas of robust optimization or reliability-based design for uncertain models. There is the opportunity to help define the future role of stochastic optimization. Also, as global optimization is a new area for the department, there is the opportunity for an exceptional person to grow and lead a research program devoted to global optimization. Sandia's Optimization and Uncertainty Estimation department is well known for its DAKOTA toolset, available as open-source under GNU GPL license. The department uses DAKOTA as both its research test bed and capability deployment vehicle. The department has unique expertise in the areas of simultaneous analysis and design, multi-level parallel optimization strategies, surrogate-based optimization, and optimization under uncertainty. The department partners with other organizations within Sandia that specialize in discrete optimization, stochastic methods, and validation and verification of software codes. The department has dozens of partnerships with world-class universities. Sandia is a world leader in large-scale parallel computer systems, algorithms, software and applications. Sandia has a unique parallel computing environment, including some of the top supercomputers in the world (e.g. the 4500-node 2.3-teraflops ASCI Red machine), and many smaller research machines. Sandia values and rewards technical excellence and leadership. Sandia offers a stable work environment, and the opportunity to solve some of the world's most challenging and important computational problems. See for more information. Candidates should send a resume, a statement of research interests, and the names of three references to Scott A. Mitchell. Electronic applications to samitch@sandia.gov are preferred, otherwise use P.O. Box 5800, Albuquerque NM 87185-0847. Sandia has facilities in Albuquerque, NM and Livermore, CA. Sandia offers attractive compensation packages that are competitive with industry leaders. Sandia is an Equal Opportunity Employer. U.S. citizenship is normally required.