Deputy Project Manager of the OLCF Organization of massive efforts for the on-time installation of Frontier

May 6, 2021 – The Oak Ridge National Laboratory (OLCF) Pioneering Frontier series introduces the many talented ORNL employees who are behind the construction and operation of the OLCF’s new exascale supercomputer Frontier. The delivery of the HPE Cray system is planned for 2021, the full user operation for 2022.

Matt Sieger has a job that would intimidate normal project managers. As deputy project manager at the US Department of Energy (DOE) OLCF, he is at the forefront of multi-year efforts to install the Frontier supercomputer at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). Fortunately, Sieger really enjoys keeping large projects organized: holding many meetings, producing numerous reports, and complying with a variety of federal requirements.

On paper, Sieger supports OLCF program director Justin Whitt as his right-wing manager. On site, he is making sure the Frontier team stays on track to meet its milestones in setting up the nation’s first exascale system, which will exceed 1 trillion, or 1018 computations per second by the end of 2021. This means that Sieger must closely monitor the daily progress of a multi-million dollar government construction project that will produce one of the most powerful and intelligent scientific supercomputers in the world. To this end, he leads the project support team, who analyzes data streams from all departments involved in preparing Frontier and finds solutions to problems before they lead to delays.

“I see my job as giving other people the opportunity to be effective by helping to build good management processes and removing obstacles from their paths. We only focus on the most important things and don’t get wrapped up too much on the axis when it comes to just distractions. Said winner. “We have a lot to do with Frontier, from the National Strategic Computing Initiative to the Exascale Computing Project. So we are under tremendous pressure to do this thing on time. “

Despite extensive pre-planning for any foreseeable eventuality, there will always be unexpected threats to the schedule, from delays in obtaining certain components to workers being quarantined due to COVID-19. “A lot of project management prepares things to get everything you know done, but there will be 15 things that you didn’t expect that will try to reach you,” Sieger said. And it is these problems that make him think.

“When you look at a project or a large company, of course there will be problems. I always find myself analyzing them: where do they come from? Why did we have this problem? How do we change to prevent this problem from occurring in the future? “Said winner. “I’m very happy when I make small improvements to our approach that prevent future problems or make things easier. I like to organize things and I really like when things run smoothly. “

OLCF deputy project manager Matt Sieger oversees the construction of Frontier supercomputers. Photo by Carlos Jones / ORNL.

Sieger joined the Frontier project about 3 years ago. For the past seven years he has worked at ORNL as a quality manager in various areas including the Spallation Neutron Source, the Consortium for Advanced Simulation of Light Water Reactors and the Directorate for Nuclear Science and Technology. Although he has gained valuable experience creating quality plans and structuring projects and processes, his previous career as a software architect has really inspired him to find satisfaction in the art of organization. He sees similarities between designing software to get a job done efficiently and creating an action plan to get a big job done effectively.

Enabling the human effort that underlies a federal government-funded $ 500 million project, however, requires more than just good organizational skills. It also requires strict adherence to DOE guidelines for managing projects of this size, ensuring compliance with applicable laws and regulations, and meeting DOE expectations for cost and schedule. Sieger takes all of these guidelines into account in every decision made by the Frontier team.

“Project management within DOE is almost a subculture of its own. There’s an order from DOE called Order 413.3 – it’s got hundreds of pages and a galaxy of guides giving us our marching orders. We have to manage this project according to these standards. “

Whether the Frontier team has met these standards well is tested each year when the DOE Project Assessment Bureau conducts an Independent Project Review (IPR) of all Frontier efforts. Within three days, experts from other DOE institutions and offices receive presentations from Frontiers project managers on their progress – and the inspectors then interview them on essentially all aspects of the project status. IPRs often result in a list of recommendations for improving the project. For the last two intellectual property rights, the Frontier team received no referrals at all – an achievement that Sieger attributes to project staff and their overall approach to the project.

“We have great people here and one of the most important things about managing this project is the philosophy of being ‘reviewable’ all the time. We are constantly working to keep metrics, documents, costs and schedules up to date, ”said Sieger. “It’s discipline, like brushing your teeth, but it really helps us with ratings. After doing our homework and always trying to do the right thing, we feel more confident that everything will go smoothly. “

For someone responsible for ensuring that the country’s first exascale supercomputer is launched successfully on schedule, Sieger is a surprisingly easy-going guy whose ironic humor ensures that his roughly 25 virtual meetings per week go smoothly. “I have to say that I really like virtual meetings because it’s easier to reach people,” he says.

Perhaps the key to his zen behavior lies in his primary hobby: playing music. But not with a musical instrument per se.

“I’m a house and techno DJ. I’ve been mixing music since the 80s – a long time ago! “Winner confesses. “In my basement at home I have a night club with lights and sound and mixed decks. I just enjoy doing it. I spend a lot of time offline just listening to new music, collecting new music, and playing music. “

UT-Battelle LLC administers the Oak Ridge National Laboratory for the DOE Office of Science, the largest supporter of basic research in the natural sciences in the United States. The DOE Office of Science is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. Further information can be found at https://energy.gov/science.

Source: COURY TURCZYN, OLCF