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Dr. Melvyn Ciment, Director of Information Technologies, Receives NSF's Meritorious Service Award

19 February, 1999

Dr. Melvyn Ciment, Director of Information Technology (IT) at the Potomac Institute for Policy Studies in Arlington, Va., has been awarded the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Meritorious Service Award for his management of several of the US's most important IT research programs, including the interagency High-Performance Computing and Communications (HPCC) program.

Dr. Ciment's NSF career, as highlighted in a January 14, 1999 award ceremony at NSF, included such posts as NSF's Deputy Assistant Director for Computer and Information Sciences and Engineering (CISE), Deputy Division Director for Advanced Scientific Computing, and Program Director for Applied Mathematics. In addition to starting up NSF's Supercomputer Centers Program, which funds centers at universities across the U.S., and overseeing the Next-Generation Internet (NGI) program, he also co-chaired the Federal Information Services and Applications Council of the White House's National Science and Technology Committee.

Particularly significant was his role in the formation of the interagency HPCC program, which addresses the combined needs of such Federal agencies as NSF, NASA, the Department of Defense, the National Security Agency and other Federal agencies. HPCC funds research on advanced supercomputers that can process trillions and quadrillions of data "bytes" (terabytes, petabytes) per second, fiber-optic "super Internets" that can transmit tens or hundreds of gigabits (billions of bits) per second, and "data visualization" methods that represent complex engineering or scientific problems as vivid, readily manipulated images on a computer screen. These advances and others under HPCC will greatly improve medical care, scientific analysis, industrial manufacturing, teaching, electronic entertainment and other activities.

"By spurring the creation of the Internet, the HPCC program promises to be the single most important determinant of American superiority and competitive economic performance in the IT arena for the next 20-30 years," explained Institute president Mike Swetnam. "We are honored to have Dr. Ciment onboard at the Institute. For example, our studies of how to combine Department of Defense (DoD) and commercial interests in common 'dual use' technologies will draw heavily on his expertise."

The NSF citation notes Dr. Ciment’s skills in IT strategic policy and dealing with Congress on IT. It adds that he was instrumental in helping Vice President Al Gore's GITS Board create the "Digital Government" initiative, drawing on his role as the founding co-chairman of the interagency committee that oversees that initiative.

Dr. Ciment can be reached at the Institute by telephone at (703) 525-0770 x 243, or by e-mail at mciment@potomacinstitute.com.