Congratulations to 2024 ACM Prize in Computing Recipient, Torsten Hoefler!

We would like to congratulate the 2024 ACM Prize in Computing recipient Torsten Hoefler, who is being recognized „for fundamental contributions to high-performance computing and the ongoing AI revolution.” Hoefler developed many of the core capabilities of modern supercomputers and defined key aspects of the algorithms for distributing AI models on them.

High-performance computing plays a critical role in AI applications, which require a great deal of computing power. The work of Hoefler and his colleagues to scale network design in supercomputers has revolutionized the capabilities of these large systems. For example, AI algorithms can now be processed on hundreds of thousands of nodes (computers or servers).

Hoefler’s advances in interconnection networks broke new ground in facilitating the use of large-scale massively parallel clusters. His numerous innovations in novel network topologies, routing, congestion avoidance, and performance—exemplified by key contributions such as PERCS, Slim Fly, and HammingMesh—have pushed the boundaries of network design and translated into dramatic improvements in supercomputer performance and scalability. Many of those innovations are incorporated into the largest and most powerful machines today. 

Torsten Hoefler is a Professor of Computer Science at ETH Zurich (the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology), where he serves as Director of the Scalable Parallel Computing Laboratory. He is also the Chief Architect for Machine Learning at the Swiss National Computing Center (CSCS). Hoefler received a Diplom Informatik (Master of Computer Science) from Chemnitz University of Technology and a PhD in Computer Science from Indiana University.

The ACM Prize in Computing recognizes early-to-mid-career computer scientists whose research contributions have fundamental impact and broad implications. The award carries a prize of $250,000, from an endowment provided by Infosys Ltd, a global leader in next-generation digital services and consulting.

Hoefler will be formally presented with the ACM Prize in Computing at ACM’s annual Awards Banquet, which will be held on Saturday, June 14 at The Palace Hotel in San Francisco.

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