Tim Linke Optimizes Internship at National Lab
Tim Linke, a Ph.D. candidate in mechanical and aerospace engineering at the University of California, Davis, recently earned the spotlight at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, or LLNL, where he participated in an internship to learn about optimization.
Under the mentorship of lab members Mathias Schmidt and Boyan Lazarov, Linke worked on developing and implementing an optimization algorithm called the method of moving asymptotes, or MMA, for next-generation computing.
While current implementations of MMA can’t use the resources offered by upcoming supercomputers, by providing a new, ground-up implementation of MMA, Linke’s project gives LLNL the ability to approach a new generation of large-scale topology optimization problems for a variety of physical applications.
In addition to producing a code for LLNL, Linke participated in engineering’s annual Summer Student SLAM, a competition in which students present three-minute talks on their work. Linke was one of two from the Computational Engineering Division selected to move on to the finals and one of four overall winners in engineering.
“The things that come out of LLNL are always incredible, whether it’s the results from [the National Ignition Facility] or the simulation codes,” he said. “Working here has always been a dream for me, so getting the opportunity to be a part of it and produce a code for them is absolutely amazing.”