Ahmad Afsahi PhD, PEng

Professor

Electrical and Computer Engineering, Faculty
Phone: 613-533-3068 
Walter Light Hall, Office: 423


Expertise: Parallel Processing and Systems
Ahmad Afsahi
Biography Research Teaching Publications Graduate Students

Ahmad Afsahi received his Ph.D. degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Victoria, BC, in 2000, and his M.Sc. and B.Sc. degrees in Computer Engineering from Sharif University of Technology and Shiraz University, respectively. He has been on the Faculty at Queen's University since 2000 and currently holds the rank of Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE). 

His main research activities are in the areas of parallel processing and systems, network-based high-performance computing, communication runtime and system software, hheterogeneous and accelerated computing, parallel programming models, and high-performance communication for deep learning.  His research has earned him a Canada Foundation for Innovation Award, and an Ontario Innovation Trust Award. More information about his research activities and research team can be found at the Parallel Processing Research Laboratory (PPRL). His teaching activities are in the areas of digital systems, computer architecture, and cluster computing. 

Dr. Afsahi is a licensed Professional Engineer (P. Eng.) in the province of Ontario, a Senior Member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), and a Member of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM).

Research Interests:

  • Parallel Processing and Systems, High-Performance Computing
  • Communication Runtime and System Software
  • High-Speed Interconnects and Communication Subsystems
  • Heterogeneous and Accelerated Cluster Computing (GPU)
  • High-Performance Communication for Deep Learning
  • Parallel Programming Models (MPI, OpenMP, PGAS, OpenSHMEM, CUDA, OpenCL, OpenACC, etc.)
  • Modern System Architectures
  • Workload Characterization
  • Benchmarking and Performance Evaluation

 

Research Activity:

For research activities in the Parallel Processing Research Laboratory (PPRL) Group, please follow the link below.

Parallel Processing Research Laboratory (PPRL)

 

Recent Professional Activity (conferences only):

  • TPC Member, 38th International Conference on High Performance Computing, Networking, Storage and Analysis (SC), 2026
  • TPC Member, 55th International Conference on Parallel Processing (ICPP), 2026
  • TPC Member, 13th Workshop on Extreme Scale MPI (ExaMPI), 2025
  • TPC Member, 37th International Conference on High Performance Computing, Networking, Storage and Analysis (SC), 2025
  • TPC Member, 54th International Conference on Parallel Processing (ICPP), 2025
  • TPC Member, 12th Workshop on Extreme Scale MPI (ExaMPI), 2024
  • TPC Member, 52nd International Conference on Parallel Processing (ICPP), 2023
  • TPC Member, 35th International Conference on High Performance Computing, Networking, Storage and Analysis (SC), 2023
  • TPC Member, 1st Workshop on Extreme Scale MPI (ExaMPI), 2023
  • Posters Chair, IEEE Cluster 2023
  • TPC Member, 15th International Workshop on Parallel Programming Models and Systems Software for High-End Computing (P2S2), 2023
  • TPC Member, 36th IEEE International Parallel & Distributed Processing Symposium (IPDPS), 2022
  • TPC Member, 1st Workshop on Exascale MPI (ExaMPI), 2022
  • TPC Member, 14th International Workshop on Parallel Programming Models and Systems Software for High-End Computing (P2S2), 2022
  • TPC Member, 28th IIEEE Hot Interconnects (HotI) Symposium, 2021
  • TPC Member, 35th IEEE International Parallel & Distributed Processing Symposium (IPDPS), 2021
  • TPC Member, 34th IEEE International Parallel & Distributed Processing Symposium (IPDPS), 2020
  • TPC Member, 31st International Conference on High Performance Computing, Networking, Storage and Analysis (SC), 2019
  • TPC Member, 26th EuroMPI Conference, 2019
  • TPC Member, Workshop on Exascale MPI (ExaMPI), 2018 - 2021
  • TPC Member, International Workshop on Parallel Programming Models and Systems Software for High-End Computing (P2S2), 2012 -2021
  • TPC Member, 19th IEEE Conference on High Performance Computing and Communications (HPCC), 2017
  • TPC Member, 31st IEEE International Parallel & Distributed Processing Symposium (IPDPS), 2017
  • TPC Member, Workshop on Exascale MPI (ExaMPI), 2016
  • TPC Member, International Workshop on Communication Optimizations in High Performance Computing (COMHPC), 2016
  • TPC Member, 23rd annual IEEE International Conference on High Performance Computing, Data and Analytics (HiPC), 2016
  • TPC Member, IEEE International Conference on Computer Communication Networks (ICCCN), 2010 - 2016
  • Program Vice-Chair, Performance Modeling, Analysis,and Evaluation, 44th International Conference on Parallel Processing (ICPP), 2015
  • TPC Member, 22nd EuroMPI Conference, 2015
  • TPC Member, International Conference on Could Computing and Big Data (CCBD), 2015
  • TPC Member, 28th IEEE International Parallel & Distributed Processing Symposium (IPDPS), 2014
  • TPC Member, 21st EuroMPI Conference, 2014
  • Track Co-Chair, Distributed and Parallel Systems, 28th IEEE International Conference on Advanced Information Networking and Applications (AINA), 2014
  • Workshop Co-Chair: Improving MPI User and Developer Interaction (IMUDI), 2013, held in conjunction with 20th EuroMPI 2013
  • TPC Member, IEEE International Conference on Cloud Computing Technology and Science (CloudCom), 2013, 2012
  • TPC Member, IEEE Workshop on Communication Architecture for Scalable Systems (CASS), 2011 - 2013
  • Program Vice-Chair, Performance Modeling and Analysis, 12th IEEE/ACM International Symposium on Cluster, Cloud, and Grid Computing (CCGrid), 2012
  • TPC Member, 41st International Conference on Parallel Processing (ICPP), 2012
  • TPC Member, 18th IEEE International Conference on Parallel and Distributed Systems (ICPADS), 2012
  • TPC Member, 1st IEEE/ACM International Symposium on Cluster, Cloud, and Grid Computing (CCGrid), 2011
  • Digital Systems Engineering (ELEC 374), Winter 2026
  • Cluster Computing (ELEC 873), Fall 2025
  • Computer System Architecture (ELEC 470), Winter 2025
  • Engineering Design (APSC 103), Supervisor, Winter 2024
  • Introduction to Computer Programming for Engineers (APSC 143), Fall 2022
  • ECE Capstone Project course (ELEC 490/8), Capstone Project Supervisor
  • ECE Research Project course (ELEC 497), Research Project Supervisor
  • introduction to Computer Programming for Engineers (APSC 142), Winter 2013
  • Computer Architecture (ELEC 274), Winter 2011
  • Digital Systems (ELEC 271), Fall 2009
  • Practical Engineering Modules (APSC 100), Supervisor

For a full list of my recent publications, please visit the Parallel Processing Research Laboratory publication page. 

Prospective Graduate Students: 

Positions might become available for highly motivated PhD students who have the background and experience in one or more of the research areas carried out in PPRL.  Potential opportunities may exist for students to collaborate with leading tech companies and laboratories on high-performance communication and system software for HPC and Deep Learning.  Exceptional MASc students with a firm commitment to continue their PhD studies in PPRL after graduation or through promotion may be considered as well.  



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