The group brings 30 of the brightest scientists and engineers together with the aim of identifying new areas of development in computer and communication technologies and recommending future research directions. 

The ISAT Study Group was established by DARPA in 1987 to support its technology offices and provide continuing and independent assessment of the state of advanced information science and technology as it relates to the U.S. Department of Defense.

Taylor brings to the group computer science expertise and vision as well as leadership experience. After receiving her Ph.D. in electrical engineering and computer science from the University of California, Berkeley, she joined the faculty at Northwestern University, where she conducted research in performance analysis, modeling and tuning of parallel, scientific applications. Later she joined Texas A&M, serving both as a professor and department head of Computer Science and Engineering and subsequently as senior associate dean of academic affairs in the College of Engineering. She joined Argonne in 2017 as director of the Mathematics and Computer Science Division and in 2019 was named an Argonne Distinguished Fellow.

“I  am honored to have been selected for the ISAT study group and to have the opportunity to explore the challenges raised by innovative computing and communication technologies,” Taylor said.

Taylor’s current research focuses on performance-power tradeoffs and power-aware predictive models to improve the energy efficiency of scientific applications. Taylor has also been exploring a co-design approach to microelectronics. She has served on various federal advisory committees on cybersecurity and advanced scientific computing and has received numerous awards for distinguished research and leadership, including most recently the 2018 Outstanding Electrical and Computer Engineering Award from Purdue University and the 2020 Distinguished Alumni Award in Electrical Engineering from the University of California, Berkeley’s Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. She is a fellow of both the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers and the Association for Computing Machinery.

“I am excited about collaborating with this ISAT group as we seek to identify potentially transformative research directions that can benefit science and our society,” Taylor said.