An emerging leader in computing

University of Delaware Professor Sunita Chandrasekaran is leading the charge on the high-tech frontier, fearless in the face of complexity.

She led an international team that stress-tested the world's first exascale computer, capable of performing a staggering quintillion calculations per second. Now, she's exploring the intersection of AI and the high-performance computing (HPC) that powers it - all while preparing her students to thrive at top technology and business firms.

Chandrasekaran, director of the recently launched First State AI Institute at UD, is known for her collaborative spirit. Her go-to response when challenges arise: "Let's work together to figure it out."

Her leadership and mentorship have earned widespread recognition. An associate professor at UD, she holds the David L. and Beverly J.C. Mills Career Development Chair in the Department of Computer and Information Sciences in the College of Engineering. She also serves as vice chair of Delaware's AI Commission and contributes to the Advanced Scientific Computing Advisory Committee at the U.S. Department of Energy.

Now, Chandrasekaran has been selected to receive a prestigious global honor. ACM, the world's largest computing society, has named her the 2025 recipient of its SIGHPC Emerging Woman Leader in Technical Computing Award. The award will be presented at the SC25 Conference this November in St. Louis, Missouri.

"Sunita Chandrasekaran exemplifies the spirit of this award, blending technical excellence with community leadership," said Michela Taufer, chair of the ACM Special Interest Group on High Performance Computing. "Her innovative work on GPU-accelerated, AI-driven workflows is reshaping how we approach exascale computing, while her mentorship and service ensure these advancements uplift the broader HPC community."

As part of the U.S. Department of Energy's Exascale Computing Project (ECP), Chandrasekaran led the SOLLVE initiative from 2021-2024. Her team prepared Open Multi-Processing (OpenMP), a high-level parallel programming model, to function on Frontier, the world's first exascale computer, at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee.

She also collaborated with an international team to test Frontier's 37,000+ graphics processing units using PIConGPU, a simulation tool for plasma and laser-plasma physics. These simulations, involving trillions of particles and cells, are vital for advancing cancer radiation therapy and high-energy physics.

Such large-scale simulations are now becoming possible with today's exascale computing, reducing months of work to days.

And that opens up another world of opportunity for Chandrasekaran's students. They have played active roles on these teams, landing them jobs at NVIDIA, AMD and national labs.

As a teacher and mentor, Chandrasekaran emphasizes both technical and interpersonal skills, encouraging students to engage in hackathons, internships and industry collaborations.

"When we're working with a company, the students lead the weekly calls," she said. "Industries observe how they present themselves. I tell my students: Learn the technical skills well - they are the foundation. But social skills are also critical, and you pick those up outside the classroom. That is why networking opportunities also are very important even if you feel awkward about it at first."

Chandrasekaran earned her doctorate from Nanyang Technical University in Singapore and her bachelor's degree from Anna University in India. She joined UD in 2015 after completing postdoctoral research at the University of Houston.