| bottom-link"> | | | | wasn’t a great demand for its time. Los |
| In 1974, Philip Emeagwali read a 1922 science | | | | Alamos scientists had been unable to program the |
| fiction article about how to use 64,000 | | | | supercomputer and they were happy to give |
| mathematicians scattered around the world to | | | | Emeagwali a chance to program it. |
| forecast the weather for the whole world. The | | | | Unlike other researchers who had gone to Los |
| theory intrigued him and 15 years later he | | | | Alamos to complete their work, Emeagwali |
| developed a theory, the HyperBall International | | | | didn’t go to Los Alamos to program the |
| Network, to use 65,000 computer processors | | | | supercomputer because he was afraid that the |
| scattered around the world to forecast the | | | | lab officials would reject his proposal if they knew |
| world’s weather. His theory was later used | | | | he was black. Instead he programmed the |
| in weather forecasting but more importantly, the | | | | Connection Machine over the internet from |
| HyperBall International Network is today known as | | | | his home in Michigan. |
| the Internet. | | | | Emeagwali was successful in proving his theory. |
| Born in Nigeria in 1954, Emeagwali grew up poor in | | | | Two years later CNN reported that his formula |
| one of the poorest countries in the world. The | | | | led to computer scientist comprehending the |
| son of James and Agatha Emeagwali, he lived the | | | | capabilities of supercomputers and
a system |
| typical life of a Nigerian child until 1967 when he | | | | that allowed multiple computers to |
| had to leave school because of the Nigeria-Biafara | | | | communicate. |
| war. | | | | His discovery was front page headlines. He was |
| From 1967 to 1970 his family was homeless. | | | | hailed as a genius and academic journals that had |
| They hid in refugee camps, abandoned buildings, | | | | previously rejected his work scrambled to publish |
| and bombed out homes during the ethnic cleansing | | | | him. A year later the Journal of Higher Education |
| in which 50,000 Igbos tribesmen were killed. | | | | wrote, Phillip Emeagwali, who took on an |
| One of fifteen people in my hometown died in | | | | enormously difficult problem
solved it |
| that 30-month war, he said in a 2003 | | | | alone
|
| interview with jobpostings.net. Both sides did | | | | In 1989, Emeagwali won the Gordon Bell Prize, the |
| not take prisoners of war; they did not want the | | | | Nobel Prize of the computing industry, and he has |
| expense of caring for prisoners. | | | | since won over 100 other prizes for his work. |
| In 1968 he was conscripted into the Biafran army | | | | His computations were applied to the oil industry, |
| as a child solider. After six months, the civil war | | | | where it was estimated that they could increase |
| ended and he was reunited with his family. He | | | | an oil fields yield by $400 million a year and they |
| returned to school, but later dropped out because | | | | have since been applied to global warming, |
| his family could not afford his education. | | | | astrology, and medicine. |
| Emeagwali was determined to fulfill his education. | | | | The idea of the HyperBall Internatinal Network |
| Being a witness to the destruction of his country | | | | was hailed as an idea ahead of its time. |
| gave him the resolve to continue studying. I | | | | The theory predated the Internet and was later |
| came out stronger from the civil war crisis, he | | | | called a germinal seed of the Internet. |
| said, I had self confidence and knew I had not | | | | Emeagwali was voted as one of the twenty |
| fulfilled my potential. | | | | innovators of the Internet and he has been called |
| He continued to study at home and in 1973 he | | | | A father of the Internet by CNN. |
| earned his first diploma from the University of | | | | His theories also have been used in personal |
| London through correspondences courses. | | | | computers. Apple computer uses his multi |
| Later that year he won a scholarship to Oregon | | | | processor technology in its Power Mac G4 and |
| State University, where he intended to study | | | | companies around the world have applied his work |
| mathematics; he excelled in his graduate studies | | | | in the desk top and network server |
| at Oregon State. | | | | multi-processor technologies. |
| In 1974 he read a science fiction article on how to | | | | Emeagwali is known for more than just his |
| forecast the weather using 64,000 | | | | mathematical calculations; he has been called a |
| mathematicians. The theory intrigued him and he | | | | black scientist with a social responsibility. He |
| began work on a theory on how to use 65,000 | | | | has a broad knowledge of literature and the arts, |
| far-flung processors to forecast the weather. He | | | | and he has been interviewed on many subjects |
| called this theory the HyperBall International | | | | outside of computing. |
| Network. His theory was so advanced for its time | | | | He is also known for his commitment to his |
| that it was rejected by his peers on the grounds | | | | community. Emeagwali speaks regularly to high |
| that it was impossible. Over the next decade he | | | | school and junior high school classes about his life |
| was unable to find work but he continued to | | | | and how important it is for them to stay in |
| work on his dream. | | | | school. He has been frequently quoted about the |
| In 1987, Emeagwali submitted a proposal to gain | | | | need to increase the number of minority scientist |
| access to the Connection Machine at the | | | | in America. The young minority possesses the |
| Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico. | | | | same qualities as the young majority. What needs |
| The Connection Machine, a supercomputer | | | | to be changed is the prejudice of people in the |
| with 65,536 processors, was available because it | | | | workplace. |
| was considered impossible to program and there | | | | |