WELCOME!
My name is Mike Wilkins, and I am a Computer Engineering Ph.D. student at Northwestern University co-advised by Dr. Peter Dinda and Dr. Nikos Hardavellas. I am also a visiting student at Argonne National Laboratory co-advised by Yanfei Guo and Rajeev Thakur. My research aims to improve the programming experience for high-performance computing systems. Below you will find details regarding my experiences and current/past projects.
EDUCATION
PH.D. COMPUTER ENGINEERING, NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY
Expected: 2023
2019-2020 Royal E. Cabell Fellow
Co-advised by Peter Dinda and Nikos Hardavellas
M.S. COMPUTER ENGINEERING, NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY
2021
GPA: 3.92
B.S. COMPUTER ENGINEERING, ROSE-HULMAN INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
2019
GPA: 3.93
Class of 1940 Endowed Scholarship Recipient
Graduated Summa Cum Laude
RESEARCH PROJECTS
HIGH-LEVEL PARALLEL LANGUAGES FOR HPC
Ongoing
Developing a new distributed parallel runtime for the Standard ML language targeted at HPC applications
Created a new version of the NAS benchmark suite using MPL (a parallel compiler for Standard ML) to enable direct comparison between HLPLs and lower-level languages for HPC
MPI COLLECTIVE AUTOTUNING USING ML
Ongoing
Developing a machine-learning autotuner that automatically selects the optimal MPI collective algorithm
Invented multiple optimizations to make ML-based MPI autotuning feasible on large scale systems
CACHE COHERENCE FOR HIGH-LEVEL PARALLEL LANGUAGES
2020-2022
Identified a low-level memory property called WARD that can be introduced by construction in high-level parallel programs.
Implemented a custom cache coherence protocol in the Sniper architectural simulator and found an average speedup of 1.46 across the PBBS benchmark suite.
DEVELOPING COMPUTATIONAL ARCHITECTURES (DECA)
2017-2019
Developed DeCA: a platform that enables application researchers to prototype FPGA accelerator designs through industry-standard tools and custom software
Created a custom FPGA accelerator using DeCA for a neuroscience application to showcase the platform’s capabilities; achieved 1.5x speedup
INDUSTRY EXPERIENCE
RESEARCH AIDE/VISITING STUDENT, ARGONNE NATIONAL LABORATORY
2020-Present
Active collaboration towards my thesis work with ANL researchers
Completed a summer internship studying collective algorithm performance
Earned perpetual external funding from ANL for the remainder of my Ph.D.
ENGINEERING LEADERSHIP PROGRAM (ELP) INTERN, NATIONAL INSTRUMENTS
Summer 2018
Engaged with technical leaders through field presentations to top technology companies in the Seattle area
Assisted customers to design and troubleshoot data-acquisition applications using NI platforms
TRAILBLAZER INTERN, FLEXWARE INNOVATION
Summer 2017
Designed an innovative RFID tracking solution to repair a malfunctioning inventory locating system
Produced a full-stack BI database solution analyzing internal employee and revenue data
DIRECTOR OF TOOL SERVICES, POWER SOLUTIONS INTERNATIONAL
Summer 2016
Organized and managed the company’s inventory of CNC machining tools, valued at more than $500,000
Trained company technicians on new processes and managed tool services employees
PUBLICATIONS
"ACCLAIM: ADVANCING THE PRACTICALITY OF MPI COLLECTIVE COMMUNICATION AUTOTUNING USING MACHINE LEARNING"
Michael Wilkins, Yanfei Guo, Rajeev Thakur, Peter Dinda, Nikos Hardavellas
CLUSTER'22
"A FACT-BASED APPROACH: MAKING MACHINE LEARNING COLLECTIVE AUTOTUNING FEASIBLE ON EXASCALE SYSTEMS"
Michael Wilkins, Yanfei Guo, Rajeev Thakur, Nikos Hardavellas, Peter Dinda, Min Si
ExaMPI'21: Workshop on Exascale MPI
IN SUBMISSION: 2 HLPL-RELATED PUBLICATIONS (FIRST AUTHOR) AND 1 ADJACENT PROJECT (THIRD AUTHOR)
Check back soon for more information!
TECHNICAL SKILLS
SOFTWARE LANGUAGES
C, C++, Python, Standard ML, Parallel ML, Java, C#, LabVIEW, SQL
HARDWARE DESCRIPTION LANGUAGES
Verilog, VHDL, Chisel, SPICE
SIMULATION/TOOLS
Sniper, gem5, Xilinx Vivado, Xilinx ISE, Quartus II, Modelsim, Multisim
LEADERSHIP
TREASURER, PI KAPPA ALPHA FRATERNITY IOTA DELTA CHAPTER
2017-2019
Drafted and managed a budget of over $400,000 across two school years while completing initiatives to increase payment collection and digitize fiduciary practices
PRESIDENT, ROSE-HULMAN BOWLING CLUB
2016-2019
Restructured the club’s leadership and daily operation; increased membership by 300%
FOUNDER/PRESIDENT, MOOSEHEART TUTORING PROGRAM
2014-2016
Began program to tutor orphaned students at Mooseheart Child City; after 3 years of growth, had 45 students and 24 tutors meeting twice a week