Ashley Barker is the Program Director for the Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility (OLCF) at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory. In this role, she provides strategic direction for the Facility and for the OLCF-6 “Discovery” project, the lab’s upcoming leadership system. Additionally, Barker serves as the Principal Investigator for ORNL’s Quantum Computing User Program, enhancing researcher access to quantum platforms and furthering the integration of quantum and high-performance computing.
The OLCF, a DOE Office of Science user facility managed by NCCS, has a history of deploying four of the world’s fastest supercomputers. The facility offers expertise in computing, data, storage, training, and user support to a global community.
Since joining ORNL in 2009, Barker has held several leadership positions within the National Center for Computational Sciences (NCCS). These roles include Section Head for Operations, Group Leader for User Assistance & Outreach, and Program Manager for the National Climate Research Center (NCRC). Barker also served as the deputy director of DOE’s Exascale Computing Project (ECP) through its closeout.
Barker holds a B.A. in English/Education and an M.S. in Information Sciences from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.
Presentation Title:
Frontier & Beyond: Accelerating Science through HPC–Quantum Integration at the Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility
Presentation Abstract:
The Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility (OLCF) is a DOE Office of Science user facility providing researchers with merit-based access to world-leading HPC systems—including Frontier, the first exascale computer—and deep expertise in scalable computing, data, AI, and emerging workflows. In parallel, OLCF operates the Quantum Computing User Program (QCUP), launched in 2017 to provide competitively reviewed access to cloud quantum platforms for exploring, evaluating, and advancing quantum-enabled science. Building on QCUP, OLCF has broadened its quantum efforts, including deployment of ORNL’s first on-site quantum system this summer. QCUP also serves as an operations testbed, where we pilot the account, security, and workflow procedures required for future hybrid HPC–quantum environments. The talk will also preview our next steps, including the OLCF-6 “Discovery” system and early-access systems that will help us accelerate today’s quantum-enabled science while de-risking tomorrow’s integrated exascale–quantum platform.