UW-IT News

Video by Sam Han | Text by Ignacio Lobos | UW-IT Communications & Engagement

In one of your commercial flights over the Cascade Mountains, between snacks, bathroom breaks and terrible romantic comedies, did you ever stop to think about the massive engineering feat that kept the engines running?

Have you ever considered your own engine — reliably ticking away year after year?

Patrick Boyle spends a lot of time thinking about the heart and the intricate electrical system that keeps it ticking along better than a Rolex ever could.

Boyle and his team in UW’s Cardiac Systems Simulation (CardSS) Lab in the Department of Bioengineering know the heart is an amazing workhorse, but they also know things go wrong.

That’s why they are using computational tools, machine learning, artificial intelligence and the power of Hyak, the UW’s supercomputer managed and operated by UW Information Technology (UW-IT), to spot electrical abnormalities before they turn into killing strokes.

 

“One of our areas of study is atrial fibrillation (AFib), an irregular heartbeat that causes the heart to beat too fast,” Boyle said. “It affects millions of people across the world, and it’s a terrifying disease.”

“It can be present, and your heart and body can tolerate the condition, and you may not know it at all,” he said. “For many people, the first sign there’s a problem is when they have a stroke.”

As its name implies, Boyle’s lab runs computational simulations of beating hearts to better predict and prevent electrical abnormalities. By studying heart rhythm disorders — specifically atrial and ventricular arrhythmias — the lab seeks to better understand why people suffer from heart disease and move health care technology forward.

Super heavy-duty computer users

An electrical abnormality is not an easy thing to track, much less predict. And that’s where the power of Hyak comes into play. It allows Boyle and his lab to run uninterrupted studies that can shed light on what’s making things go haywire.

His lab is also using many complex open-source packages maintained by the openCARP community, whose software and code is freely available for academic purposes; and powerful new tools created by umericor, which provides cutting-edge cardiac electrophysiology simulation solutions.

“We’re grateful to have amazing software tools to use in our work, and on-premises supercomputer to crunch the data,” he said. “We’re fortunate to have a resource like Hyak. For us, a single study has enough data to consume 3 to 4 million CPU hours. That’s an incredible amount of computing power,” he said.

And he needs every bit of it. He and his team are not studying one heart. They are studying thousands of electrical permutations in hundreds of hearts, all of them beating at their own rhythm and creating incredibly complex data points that add up to an incredible puzzle that the CardSS Lab can’t wait to crack.

Three units within UW-IT’s Infrastructure Division critical to the University of Washington’s business functions now have new leaders — a key step in a major reorganization that was completed in late 2023.

Scott Bingham is Director of Microsoft Platforms, a new unit in UW-IT; David Cox is Director of Computing and Storage; Joby Walker is Director of Infrastructure Tools.

Strengthening UW’s partnership with Microsoft

UW students, faculty and staff rely on multiple IT tools and apps to accomplish their work, but over the years, as the University has sought to streamline its offerings, Microsoft tools have grown in importance.

“With our new Microsoft Platforms unit, we aim to elevate our partnership with Microsoft and maximize the value of Microsoft technologies for University business,” said Bin Guo, Infrastructure’s associate vice president.

“Scott will help us to strengthen our partnership with Microsoft, and at the same time, work with other UW-IT teams to curate relevant Microsoft technologies and continue to deliver premium services to our community,” she said.

Scott brings broad technical expertise across applications, infrastructure, program and project management, and IT operations. “And he is proficient in bringing together technology and business strategy to solve unique challenges,” she said.

Scott is no stranger to UW, where he received a Computer Science degree. He has more than 20 years of experience leading technology teams delivering high-value digital solutions and services.

For the last 12 years, he served in various IT leadership roles at Seattle Children’s, and most recently has led the IT Operations department, where he implemented and supported a large portfolio of digital solutions and services across the Hospital, Research Institute and 40 remote clinical sites.

Scott is also the founder and president of Housing Solutions for Hope (HS4H), a Seattle Children’s non-profit — showcasing his deep passion for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) in support of under-represented communities.

Cutting-edge computing and storage solutions coming to the UW

The Computing and Storage unit also will play a critical role as the University seeks new business solutions in the short- and long-term, Guo said.

“We are at a pivotal point of leading the university into the next era, and the Computing and Storage unit continues to play a key role in that journey,” Guo said.

“This includes a few major efforts like defining and driving the implementation of next generation student systems in collaboration with our partners in the Data and Applications Division, modernizing of our on-premises storage solutions and expanding our computing environment to the cloud.

David is well known around UW, where he has been contributing to its mission in different roles and capacities for more than 30 years — with outstanding results. He has diverse technical knowledge and experience as well as leading teams in various areas.

“It’s a super exciting journey ahead and we are glad to have David onboard,” she said.

Infrastructure tools key to smooth University business operations

The Infrastructure Tools team already has played an instrumental role in Finance Transformation by enabling UW Connect (ServiceNow) to be the enterprise customer support platform, Guo said.

Under Joby’s leadership, she expects the unit will continue to scale up the capabilities to enable more business workflows and onboard more university customers efficiently.

UW-IT also oversees a vast portfolio of tools to support the management of the backbone IT infrastructure for the university, including project management and developer tools. But as University priorities change, the Infrastructure Tools unit will play a key role in building a solid roadmap for years to come.

“Joby is perfect for this role,” Guo said. “He has been contributing to UW’s mission in different roles and capacities for more than two decades and he has a great track record of delivering outstanding results in an extremely collaborative and pragmatic manner.”

“He also brings diverse technical knowledge and experience and is a great example of the embodiment of our three core values — invested, compassionate and team player.”

“I am confident that Joby will help us lead through this growth and pave the way forward,” Guo said. “It’s a super exciting time.”

Leadership changes reflect UW-IT’s path to a dynamic future

In the past year, UW-IT has transformed itself and created new divisions and units, committing itself to a new work model focused on the people who depend on IT tools and services.

The new hires and units, Guo said, go a long way to fulfilling Infrastructure Division’s mandate. As part of its work, various units design, implement and support essential IT infrastructure services and technologies that are indispensable to carrying out the University’s mission.

They include the University’s wired and wireless networks, telecommunications services, computing and storage services, infrastructure tools and service delivery platforms. At the same time, Infrastructure works closely with other divisions in UW-IT to ensure the right IT solutions are in place. See where Infrastructure and its units fit within UW-IT.

“We are very excited to have such committed leaders in UW-IT,” Guo said. As UW-IT continues to position itself to better serve the University’s mission, we need a strong vision to get us there.”

 

By UW-IT News & Announcements

Xiao Zhu, a research computer expert with the knowhow to help other researchers across the University of Washington to meet their evolving computing needs, is UW-IT’s new Associate Vice President for Research Computing.

“It is my belief that Xiao will skillfully support the UW in its role as a world leader in research,” said Andreas Bohman, UW-IT’s Vice President for UW Information Technology and CIO. “I am also confident that Xiao’s commitment to fostering innovation, collaboration and diversity in higher education will be a significant contribution to the UW’s mission and vision.”

Zhu was chosen from among a strong field of finalists to lead the new Research Computing Division in UW-IT, which reorganized in the past year to better serve the University’s needs.

UW and UW-IT leaders recognize that research computing is a key differentiator for the UW and it needs to continue to grow in this area to meet the needs of an innovative and fast-moving research community.

The Research Computing Division’s primary mission is to empower and facilitate groundbreaking research, foster innovation and support researchers across the university.

One of its goals is to provide the best computing resources available, in-house tools and expertise and unwavering support to everyone, whether they’re seasoned researchers or students just getting under way.

Through its new division, UW-IT is committed to enabling best practices that not only enhance the quality of research outcomes but also mitigate funding risks associated with computational endeavors.

“I am thankful to everyone who participated in the selection process,” Bohman said. “I especially appreciate the work from the recruiting firm Next Generation Partners, LLC and the search committee chaired by Xiaosong Li, Associate Vice Provost for Research Cyberinfrastructure, and made up of leaders across the University.

Xiao’s experience, in both the private and public sectors, encompasses research computing leadership, deep technical expertise, and securing external funding for research infrastructure.  Most recently, he served as Senior Technical Consulting Engineer at Intel, where he was immersed in innovative technologies that support research computing.

Xiao’s education includes earning a Ph.D. in Computational Chemistry from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and an MBA from Purdue University, his employer prior to Intel. Xiao also holds a Bachelor of Science in Polymer Materials and Engineering from the University of Science and Technology of China.

While at Purdue as a Senior Research Scientist, Xiao designed and delivered cost-effective services to meet the evolving cyberinfrastructure needs of researchers, including the deployment of GPU resources for ML/AI. He also played a pivotal role in securing over $20 million in funding from the National Science Foundation, which facilitated deployment of the Anvil Supercomputer for the national science and engineering community.

Additionally, at the Texas Advanced Computing Center, Xiao was instrumental in deploying and later enhancing one of the world’s most powerful supercomputers at the time, while providing support to scientific computing communities.