Senior computing appointment announced at UQ

A distinguished national e-research leader has been appointed Director of The University of Queensland’s new Research Computing Centre.

Professor David Abramson will take up duties in early 2013.

UQ Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) Professor Max Lu said the University was fortunate to have attracted a researcher of Professor Abramson’s calibre and experience to the role.

“UQ has assembled some of the best research computing and data resources in Australia, and hosts prominent research groups requiring such infrastructure,” Professor Lu said.

“The UQ Research Computing Centre (RCC) will provide coordinated management and support of the University’s sustained and substantial investment in supercomputers, tera-scale data archives, and network connections, together with coordinated research user support.

“The Centre’s goal is to ensure that UQ's research computing infrastructure is 'research led', 'research engaged', usable, and delivers value to researchers.”

Professor Lu said under Professor Abramson’s stewardship, the UQ Research Computing Centre would bring critical mass and focus to currently dispersed support activities.

It would ensure that research computing infrastructure was fully engaged with world-class research across a wide range of disciplines at UQ; and position UQ for prospective funding opportunities in this domain.

Professor Abramson has held a number of leadership roles in education and research over the past 30 years, having been a program leader at CSIRO; Associate Dean (Research) at Griffith University; and Head of the School of Computer Science and Software Engineering at Monash.

Most recently he has served as Science Director Monash e-Research Centre and the Director of the Monash e-Education Centre.

He has been involved in almost all aspects of the national e-Research agenda, assisting in the formulation of policy, and serving on a number of implementation committees.

As a member of the ARC College of Experts, he chaired a Special Research Initiative on e-Research, and has served on the committees that established and operated many of the national bodies.

He maintains active links to the Oxford e-Research Centre (OeRC) and the California Institute for Telecommunications and Information Technology (CalIT2), an organisation with common goals to the UQ Research Computing Centre.

Professor Abramson’s own research in computer science has been “applications driven”, using real world case studies to determine the types of software tools and techniques that are required.

He has a significant research track record, having attracted funding from various national and international government and industry bodies, and in applying and commercialising IT.

“I am passionate about the adoption of advanced information technology in the research process, and am delighted to lead the Research Computing Centre at the University,” Professor Abramson said.

Media: Janine Richards, telephone 07 3365 4445 or Jan King 0413 601 248.