Giovanni Rivera, a computer science doctoral student at UC Riverside, has been selected for the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Computational Science Graduate Fellowship—a nationally competitive award that supports students whose research harnesses the power of high-performance computing (HPC).

Rivera is among 30 graduate students nationwide recently chosen for the fellowship. Funded by the DOE Office of Science and the National Nuclear Security Administration, the program supports students pursuing advanced degrees in computational science and engineering fields.

HPC uses clusters of powerful processors working in parallel to solve complex problems at extremely high speeds—millions of times faster than typical desktops and laptops.

Fellows receive full tuition and a generous stipend for up to four years, along with an academic allowance and a three-month practicum at one of the DOE’s national laboratories. The program emphasizes interdisciplinary research that uses HPC to tackle scientific challenges ranging from climate modeling to national security.

Rivera, who earned his undergraduate degree from California State University, Dominguez Hills, is now conducting research in the Marlan and Rosemary Bourns College of Engineering’s Department of Computer Science and Engineering. His work focuses on improving the reliability of HPC systems, which can be used to simulate complex phenomena such as nuclear reactions, climate dynamics, and genomic processes.

“This fellowship opportunity will support my full-time research as I pursue my Ph.D. in computer science and will help me get closer to reaching my goal of becoming a full-time CS researcher after I graduate,” Rivera said.

Established in 1991, this DOE fellowship program is known for producing leaders in national laboratories, academia, and industry