Paul Boggs is Chief of the Applied and Computational Mathematics Division in the Computing and Applied Mathematics Laboratory at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) located in Gaithersburg, Maryland. The main mission of the 25 members of the Division is to assist scientists, such as physicists, chemists, materials scientists, electrical engineers, and manufacturing engineers, in developing simulations and mathematical models. The members of the Division see their role as providing mathematical and computational support, and conducting basic research in applied and computational mathematics to meet the needs of the ongoing applied research at NIST. As Chief of the Division, Paul must spend some of his time at administrative duties, such as coordinating the programs of the Division and setting direction and policy. However, he is still involved in the work of the Division, participating in specific computational applications and continuing his research in the area of non-linear optimization.
Paul sees simulation and modeling as the third area of the sciences, the first two being theory and experimentation. Since some experiments are either too costly or impossible to do in the laboratory, scientists are turning to simulations to verify theoretical predictions or to model experimental phenomena. Many scientists now have strong backgrounds in computational science and powerful computers make it possible to perform computations with increased accuracy and speed. As a result, there is a need for people in computational mathematics to help formulate mathematical models so they are suitable for computation.
For example, a materials scientist at NIST recently needed help in interpreting the results of a model he had formulated. During a non-destructive materials test, waves had been passed through a material to detect flaws. However, the scientist had trouble interpreting the results of the test, and formulated a computational model which also gave inconclusive and confusing output. Working with the Division, he was able to reformulate his model, improving the accuracy of the computation and giving usable results. In addition, the reformulated code ran 200 times faster and he was able to make a movie from the results to demonstrate the physical phenomenon.
Paul has a B.S. in mathematics from the University of Akron, and a Ph.D. in computer science from Cornell University. He has been with NIST for 14 years, starting in the position of Computer Scientist, and becoming Chief of the Division in 1986. Although he started out in an academic position in the 70's, he discovered the outlook was not very good, and made the switch to a nonacademic career. Prior to joining NIST he was a mathematician for the U.S. Army Research Office, which gave him an excellent overview of applied mathematics and its use in laboratory settings. NIST provides him with an opportunity to participate directly in this work. He enjoys working with the applied mathematicians at NIST and finds that he spends half his time collaborating with other scientists and the other half doing research, usually motivated by the needs at NIST.
When hiring for the Division, Paul looks for individuals who genuinely want to work with others, interact well, and are willing to learn the language of the scientists at the laboratories. He advises students to take applied courses if they are available and to look into summer internships, such as the program at NIST, so they can see what kind of mathematics is being done in industry and government labs.
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