Technical Fellow & Practitioner

Robert Thoelen

Technical Fellow IEEE Senior Member ACM Senior Member Presbyterian Elder Certified Software Professional Level 2

25+ years in aerospace — from embedded controls and real-time simulation to the HPC infrastructure that powers engineering at scale. I work at the intersection of high-performance computing, enterprise platform architecture, and the formation of the people who sustain complex systems.

Focus Areas

HPC Infrastructure Architecture

Designing and sustaining high-performance computing environments for aerospace engineering — from cluster architecture to container orchestration to enterprise platform strategy.

Systems Performance & Benchmarking

Measuring what the cluster is actually doing — benchmarking HPC codes, tuning configurations, and closing the gap between theoretical and realized throughput.

Capability Building

Mentoring, curriculum design, and workforce development in HPC systems operations — from one-on-one coaching to community leadership.

Faith & Formation

Presbyterian elder. Exploring the intersection of vocation, theology, and what it means to build things that last.

Enterprise IT & Linux Operations

From Linux system administration to enterprise application support — keeping the tools engineers depend on running where reliability isn't optional.

Open Source & Amateur Radio

Built open-source amateur radio software for NXDN radio-over-IP — a long-running conviction that the best technical work finds its way back to the community.

This I Believe
Professional Thesis
The best infrastructure engineers are stewards. The difference shows in how they document, how they mentor, how they hand off, and what survives them.
Community
Professional Communities

Where I contribute

I participate reviewing papers, co-organizing sessions, and bringing field experience into spaces that shape the next generation of HPC infrastructure professionals.

IEEE HPEC — Technical Committee
PEARC — Reviewer
ACM SIGHPC SYSPROS
ACM SIGHPC Education
US-RSE
IEEE Connecticut Section
Contact
Get In Touch

Whether you're working on HPC infrastructure, thinking about faith and work, interested in collaboration on a paper or conference session, or simply want to connect — I'm reachable by email.

Send a Message