Emeagwali, Philip
1954-present · Contribution: 1989
Programmed a CM-2 Connection Machine (massively parallel supercomputer) to run a computational fluid dynamics simulation for petroleum (oil) reservoir modeling
Portraits are AI-generated interpretations, not photographs.
Impact on the world
Won the 1989 Gordon Bell Prize in the price/performance category for the petroleum-reservoir CFD application. IMPORTANT: widely circulated claims that he 'invented the internet,' built 'the world's fastest computer' or the Connection Machine, won a 'Nobel Prize of Computing,' holds 41 patents, or earned a PhD are disputed and have been debunked (IEEE, NEXT newspaper, Dubawa). His Gordon Bell entry did not set a world record (the performance prize that year went to a Mobil Research/Thinking Machines team), and the University of Michigan rejected his doctoral dissertation, so he holds no PhD.
Life & background
Nigerian-American computer scientist, born Aug 23, 1954 in Akure, Nigeria. Holds master's degrees (mathematics, University of Maryland; engineering, George Washington University). Despite frequent 'Dr./Prof.' styling, he is neither a PhD holder nor a professor.
Sources
- IEEE Software 'Special Report: 1989 Gordon Bell Prize' (May 1990); Dubawa fact-check (2019); NEXT newspaper investigation (2010)
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