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David PeakView profile

Professor

• Physics Education
• Complex Systems
• Biophysics
• +1 more

David Peak is a Professor of Physics in the Department of Physics at Utah State University's College of Science, where he has served since 1994. Awarded the 2009 Carnegie Professor of the Year, he is nationally recognized for transformative undergraduate teaching and research mentorship, embodying his mantra that 'research is teaching.' Peak's research pioneers the intersection of biophysics and complex systems, investigating how stomatal networks in plants exhibit computational properties analogous to cellular automata. His work on stomatal patchiness reveals emergent problem-solving capabilities in biological systems, while his educational scholarship develops innovative approaches to quantum mechanics and relativity instruction. This dual focus creates a synergistic cycle where research informs pedagogy and classroom discoveries fuel new scientific inquiries. Analysis of Peak's recent publications (2018-2023) shows consistent exploration of computational parallels in nature, particularly stomatal dynamics and majority automata. His work bridges theoretical physics, plant physiology, and computer science, demonstrating how biological systems solve complex computational tasks. Notably, he integrates educational materials (e.g., problem sets on quantum mechanics) with fundamental research, reflecting his commitment to making advanced concepts accessible. Peak received the 2009 Carnegie Professor of the Year award for his exceptional teaching impact. His mentorship has directly enabled students to secure elite national honors: Rhodes Scholarship Marshall Scholarship Fulbright Award 14 Goldwater Scholarships As a dedicated advisor, Peak has mentored students across achievement levels, including Rhodes Scholar Lara Anderson and Goldwater Scholar Jennifer Albretsen Roth. He founded USU's undergraduate research program and established the 'Peak Prizes in Undergraduate Research' endowment (2008) with his wife Terry Peak. His 'scholarship boot camp' has produced unprecedented national award success, including Rhodes, Marshall, and Fulbright recipients, demonstrating his systematic approach to cultivating student excellence. Peak co-founded the national Council on Undergraduate Research (1978) and collaborates with campus leadership like Associate VP Joyce Kinkead to expand research access. His initiatives specifically address gender equity in STEM, creating inclusive pathways for all students to engage in authentic research experiences that enhance competitiveness for prestigious awards.

• Computer Architecture
• Parallel Processing
• Cache Coherency
• +3 more

Susan Eggers is a Professor at the University of Washington's Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering, renowned as one of the field's leading computer architects and the first woman to receive the Eckert-Mauchly Award in its 39-year history. Her educational journey includes: BA in Economics (1965) PhD from University of California, Berkeley, Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences (1989) Professor Eggers' research revolutionized computer architecture through foundational work in simultaneous multithreaded (SMT) processor design and cache coherency protocols . Her mid-1990s research demonstrated how SMT converts thread-level parallelism into instruction-level parallelism, enabling significant CPU performance gains that circumvented Moore's Law limitations. This work directly enabled commercial implementations by Intel (Hyper-Threading) and IBM, with technology transfer to Fujitsu, MemoryLogix, and Sun Microsystems. Her major honors include: ACM-IEEE CS Eckert-Mauchly Award (2018) for contributions to SMT architectures and multiprocessor coherency ACM Athena Lecturer Award (2009) ACM Fellowship (2002) for multithreaded processor and compiler technology research Eggers began her faculty career at age 47 after 18 years in economics-related fields, publishing landmark papers at ISCA conferences (1995-2003) that established SMT as essential to modern processor design. Her early work included the first data-driven study of data sharing in shared-memory multiprocessors, resolving critical cache coherency challenges where multiple processor caches maintain data uniformity.

Vincent WeaverView profile

Associate Professor

• Hardware Performance Counters
• Computer Architecture
• High Performance Computing
• +8 more

Vincent Weaver is an Associate Professor in the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department at the University of Maine's College of Engineering. He leads the VMW Research Group, focusing on low-level systems research including hardware performance counters, computer architecture, and operating systems. Weaver received his BS in Electrical Engineering from the University of Maryland College Park in December 2000, followed by MS (January 2009) and PhD (May 2010) degrees in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Cornell University. He joined the University of Maine faculty in July 2012 as an Assistant Professor and earned tenure and promotion to Associate Professor in September 2018. His research centers on hardware performance analysis, architectural simulation, and systems programming with emphasis on Linux kernel development and embedded systems. Weaver's work bridges theoretical computer architecture with practical systems implementation, often resulting in open-source tools that advance the field. His publications reveal a consistent focus on performance analysis techniques, code optimization, and security through low-level system understanding. Weaver maintains an active teaching schedule including courses in embedded systems, operating systems, and network engineering. He values students with strong programming skills and encourages open source contributions as part of the learning process. His research group provides hands-on experience with cutting-edge processor architectures and performance analysis tools.