Steve Wallach

Steve Wallach
Steve Wallach
Born	Error: Need valid birth date: year, month, day; Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
Occupation(s)	Engineer, technology executive, consultant
Known for	High-performance computing innovations, Convex mini-supercomputer line
Notable work	Development of MV/8000 computer

Steven "Steve" J. Wallach (born September 1945 in Brooklyn, New York) is an accomplished engineer, technology executive, and consultant, honored with the prestigious Seymour Cray Computer Engineering Award.

Education

Wallach earned a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering from Polytechnic University (Brooklyn), followed by a Master of Science in electrical engineering from the University of Pennsylvania, and later completed an MBA at Boston University.

Career

After retiring from Micron Technology, Wallach currently holds positions as a guest scientist at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) and as a visiting scientist at the Barcelona Supercomputer Center (BSC), where he concentrates on HPC RISC-V innovations. He co-established Convey Computers, acting as its CTO; upon Micron’s acquisition of Convey, he transitioned to the role of design director. His prior roles include Vice President of Technology at Chiaro Networks and co-founder, CTO, and Senior Vice President of Development at Convex Computer. Following Hewlett-Packard’s purchase of Convex, Wallach served as CTO for HP’s large systems division. Additionally, he was a visiting professor at Rice University during 1998–1999.

Before joining Convex, Wallach led Advanced Development at Data General, where he contributed to the development of the MV/8000, which was prominently featured in Tracy Kidder’s Pulitzer Prize-winning book The Soul of a New Machine. Earlier in his career, he worked at Raytheon on the All Applications Digital Computer (AADC) project.

Wallach is credited with 96 U.S. patents and is recognized as a member of the National Academy of Engineering, an IEEE Fellow, and a founding participant of the Presidential Information Technology Advisory Committee (PITAC). He provides advisory services to Centerpoint Venture Partners, Sevin Rosen Funds, Interwest, and consults for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Scientific Computing program at LANL. His personal collection was donated to the Computer Museum. In 2023, the ACM History Committee conducted an interview with him.

Awards

In 2008, Wallach was honored with the Seymour Cray Computer Science and Engineering Award for his pioneering work in high-performance computing through innovative vector and parallel computing architectures, particularly the Convex mini-supercomputer line, complemented by a distinguished career in industry and public service. He received the IEEE Computer Society Charles Babbage Award in 2002 and was recognized as an HPC legend in 2024. He is also affiliated with Eta Kappa Nu and Tau Beta Pi honor societies.

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