A global team of researchers, including Dr. Zubair Khalid, an associate professor at Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS), has been awarded the Gordon Bell Prize, often dubbed the “Nobel Prize of supercomputing.”
The annual award recognized groundbreaking achievements in high-performance computing (HPC) and innovative contributions toward solving the climate crisis.
Dr Khalid and the winning team
Dr. Zubair Khalid, Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering at the LUMS Syed Babar Ali School of Science and Engineering (SBASSE), is the first Pakistani to receive this honor.
Congratulating Dr. Khalid, Dr. Walther Schwarzacher, Dean, SBASSE, said, “This remarkable achievement highlights the outstanding contributions that the School’s faculty are making to address some of the greatest scientific challenges facing our society”.
Team members include Zubair Khalid from LUMS; Sameh Abdulah, Marc G. Genton, David E. Keyes, Hatem Ltaief, Yan Song, Greorgiy L. Stenchikov, and Ying Sun from King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (Saudi Arabia); Allison H. Baker from NSF National Center for Atmospheric Research (US); George Bosilca from NVIDIA (US); Qinglei Cao from St. Louis University (US); and Stefano Castruccio from the University of Notre Dame (US).
The award was presented by the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) for the project “Boosting Earth System Model Outputs and Saving PetaBytes in Their Storage Using Exascale Climate Emulators.” The award recognizes innovative parallel computing contributions toward solving the global climate crisis.
The 12-member team won the Gordon Bell Prize for Climate Modelling for their project -ExaScale Climate Emulator, a breakthrough that leverages AI and high-performance computing to enhance climate modelling accuracy and efficiency.
Climate Modeling
The team developed a smart predictive climate model that addresses the limitations of traditional models, which are time-intensive, data-heavy, and computationally demanding.
“Our emulator acts like a highly intelligent, compact version of these models,” Dr. Khalid explained to Dawn. He highlighted that the emulator enhances accuracy and speed in predicting climate phenomena, using smaller data inputs and advanced algorithms.
Reflecting on his achievement, Dr. Khalid called the honor as “incredibly humbling.” He hoped this recognition will inspire young Pakistani scientists to pursue research and innovation, knowing their efforts can create global impact.
“This recognition is not merely personal,” he added, “it is a profound honor to represent Pakistan on the global stage.”
Dr. Khalid’s contribution to the project was developed during his sabbatical at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) in Saudi Arabia, where he collaborated with global experts to integrate AI with large-scale simulations.
“The University has been instrumental in supporting my contributions to thisendeavorr by fostering an environment that encourages interdisciplinary research and collaboration. Through my Centre for Urban Informatics, Technology, and Policy (CITY), LUMS facilitated my engagement with global research networks and positioned me to contribute to high-impact international projects,” he said.
What is ExaScale Climate Emulator?
Scientists warn that global warming is pushing the planet toward a crisis. This has led to more extreme storms, hurricanes, droughts, wildfires, and biodiversity loss, exacerbating the current climate emergency.
This emergency prompted the global team of researchers to develop ExaScale Climate Emulator that offers localized and precise predictions for extreme weather events such as floods, hurricanes, and heatwaves, enabling timely disaster management.
This advanced climate emulator provides faster and more precise insights into climate change, predicting extreme weather events like floods, heatwaves, and hurricanes with greater accuracy, even down to specific towns or neighborhoods.
Dr. Khalid emphasized its practical applications in Pakistan, stating the emulator can assist farmers in optimizing sowing schedules and irrigation strategies based on detailed weather forecasts.
“This tool brings climate science closer to real-life solutions that protect lives and livelihoods,” he said. The tool significantly reduces the energy footprint of climate modelling, making it a sustainable alternative to traditional methods.