Oak Ridge Associated Universities 2006 Annual Report

HIGHLIGHT
PROFILE
Young African Leaves Home to
Further Mathematical and Computer
Science Knowledge in the U.S.
A participant in the ORNL Postdoctoral Research
Associates Program, Sylvain 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 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 U.S. 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, where Nintcheu Fata received a
Ph.D. in civil engineering 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, and 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.”
Image Information:
A participant in the ORNL Postdoctoral Research Associates
Program, Nintcheu Fata is helping to develop improved
mathematical tools used in large-scale computer models that
will reduce computational input and uploading time.
The U.S. Department of Homeland
Security (DHS) Scholarship and
Fellowship Program, administered by
ORISE for DHS, engages participants
in research that addresses current and
future homeland security challenges.
Begun in 2003, the program provides
full tuition and fees at any institution
for up to two years of undergraduate
study or three years of graduate study, a
monthly stipend, and a 10-week summer
internship. In 2006, the program
added the possibility of a fourth year
of DHS support via a dissertation grant
award available to students pursuing
doctorate degrees. Sixteen successful
DHS fellows, four of whom are pictured
above, submitted proposals in April
for the 2006-2007 academic year and
received the $10,000 award.
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