Bill Thigpen

As deputy project manager of the high end computing Columbia project and chief of the Engineering Branch, William (Bill) Thigpen oversees the staff and activities involved in operation of the division's supercomputing systems and facility. Thigpen has held several key development and management roles in the division, including leading construction and deployment of the 10,240-processor Columbia system, one of the world's fastest and most capable supercomputers.

Thigpen was a member of the President's High End Computing Revitalization Task Force and has chaired and served on numerous panels focused on high-end computing and grid technologies. He also led a large Y2K compliance effort at Ames Research Center.

Before joining the NAS Division management team in September 1999, Thigpen worked for Sterling Software, Inc. at the NAS facility, leading the advanced systems development group and managing technical teams that provided high-speed computing capabilities and services to NASA researchers. His 17-year career supporting government contracts includes software engineering and mission support management. Thigpen holds a bachelor's degree in computer science from the University of Nebraska.