CNRS Crystal medal for Loïc Gouarin
Loïc Gouarin is a research engineer specializing in scientific computing at the Centre de mathématiques appliquées1 . He develops and coordinates a number of innovative open source software packages for scientific and industrial applications, helping to raise the profile of the French mathematical community. He has been awarded the CNRS Crystal Medal.
- 1CMAP – CNRS/École Polytechnique
After a university degree in mathematics, Loïc Gouarin pursued an engineering career combining mathematics and modeling. Particularly interested in software development, he passed the competitive examination for research engineer, which enabled him to join the CNRS in 2005. “ There's an element of creation in writing computer code. I like starting with a blank sheet of paper, imagining what a solution might look like and building it with several hands, with all the challenges that implies,” he explains.
Keen to forge links with the scientific and supercomputing community, he is heavily involved in the Groupement de recherche et le réseau métier Calcul, which he took over as director in 2010. Within this framework, he organizes numerous events and training courses to enhance the skills of his community. Then, in search of new challenges, he joined CMAP in 2018, where he initiated a new dynamic of knowledge transmission through the deployment of open source software.
With Professor Marc Massot, he co-leads CMAP's HPC@Maths team, which brings together researchers and engineers in scientific and intensive computing. This atypical association facilitates the transfer of knowledge in applied mathematics to optimized open source tools that meet the concrete needs of industry. It also enables them to enrich their models with new developments to keep pace with the rapid evolution of research and computing. Among the solutions developed, the Samurai software reduces calculation costs by offering mesh adaptation techniques widely used in numerical simulation. Adopted by the CEA, Onera and NASA, this tool is also a cornerstone of the NumPEX PEPR dedicated to exascale computing - the realization of a billion billion calculations per second.
Loïc Gouarin has been awarded the CNRS Crystal Medal for all his efforts to promote scientific openness. We have everything to gain by working together, “ he adds . ”That's what I've been trying to do since I joined the CNRS, and this medal encourages me to keep up the good work.