First Pakistani Wins Prestigious Gordon Bell Prize for Climate Modelling
In a groundbreaking achievement, Dr Zubair Khalid, a renowned researcher and associate professor of electrical engineering at the Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS), has made history by becoming the first Pakistani to receive the prestigious Gordon Bell Prize in Climate Modelling.
The international multidisciplinary team that worked on the prize-winning project "Boosting Earth System Model Outputs and Saving PetaBytes in Their Storage Using Exascale Climate Emulators" was announced as the winner of the Gordon Bell Prize earlier this year. Dr Khalid was part of a 12-member team from Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) that developed the innovative Exascale Climate Emulator.
The Exascale Climate Emulator, which won Dr Khalid the award, is a "smart climate model" that predicts climate patterns accurately and quickly by using smaller data inputs and advanced algorithms. This compact version acts like a highly intelligent weather forecast system that can also predict long-term climate trends, without needing massive supercomputers every time.
The emulator uses sophisticated algorithms and statistical techniques to provide faster, scalable, and more actionable climate insights. It has the potential to overhaul the way we prepare for extreme climate events by providing localised disaster preparedness in small towns and communities often overlooked by broader models.
Dr Khalid's achievement is particularly significant for Pakistan, where extreme weather events such as floods, hurricanes, heatwaves, and droughts are becoming more frequent and severe due to climate change. The Exascale Climate Emulator can provide critical climate data at a fine scale that enables localised decision-making in farming, water management, and urban planning.
Dr Khalid hopes that the Exascale Climate Emulator's capabilities will inspire young scientists in Pakistan to pursue research and innovation fearlessly, knowing that their work can make a global impact. "I hope that this achievement inspires our youth to join hands with international partners to find practical solutions to the challenges posed by climate change," Dr Khalid said.
The Gordon Bell Prize is given annually by the IEEE Computer Society to recognize innovative applications of computing in science and engineering. The award is considered one of the most prestigious recognition for excellence in computing in academia, industry, or both.