Learn why Gokchen Kestor loves her job as a senior research scientist in the high performance computing group at Pacific Northwest National Lab.
August 16, 2019
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Gokcen Kestor is a senior research scientist in the high-performance computing group at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. Her research solves computer science challenges in HPC software, such as scalability, energy efficiency, programmability and portability. Her research is in HPC system software mainly focuses on providing performance and energy efficiency on advanced HPC systems through runtime and compiler optimizations. She has expertise in programming models, power/performance modeling, emerging architectures, compiler, and runtime systems. She is active in the HPC research community as program committee member of top-tier HPC conferences, and a co-organizer of the Women in High Performance Computing workshops. She earned a master’s degree and a doctorate in computer science from the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya in Spain.
What inspired you to work in STEM?
My whole life, all I ever dreamed about was to help people in a powerful way. I saw that STEM could help me do that.I'm inspired by the fact that we know so much more about the world today than five years ago, and there are still so many things to discover to make the world a better place.
What excites you about your work at the Energy Department?
Challenges. There is always something new to figure out and make improvements – both in scientific applications and simulations as well as in looking at the bigger picture of why we need to develop solutions to the world’s changing problems.
How can our country engage more women, girls, and other underrepresented groups in STEM?
Showing them the beauty of science when they are young in a way that they will be able to think of how science is evident in daily life.
Do you have tips you’d recommend for someone looking to enter your field of work?
Be patient; working in the field requires a lot of effort, but you will have fun on the way.
When you have free time, what are your hobbies?
I try to choose things that will allow me to relax. I love taking a walk along the Columbia River because the sound of water has always soothing effect on me. I love painting that makes me disconnected from the rest of world.
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