ISC 2026

Eleanor Broadway, EPCC, University of Edinburgh, UK. 

Eleanor Broadway is an Architect at EPCC at the University of Edinburgh. She is a co-I for the Computational Abilities Knowledge Exchange (CAKE) project, supports the users of the UK’s national supercomputing service and works on technical research projects.

She is passionate about supporting people to succeed in their chosen career, so dedicates time to advocate for diversity and inclusion in HPC. She serves on the Executive Board of Women in HPC (WHPC) and Chairs the CAKE-CoSeC EDI working group, actively working to broaden participation and representation in computational research communities.

Poster Chair –  Dr. Ayesha Afzal, Erlangen National High Performance Computing Center (NHR@FAU), Germany

Ayesha Afzal is a researcher at the Erlangen National High Performance Computing Center (NHR@FAU), Germany. She holds a PhD in Computer Science, an MSc in Computational Engineering, and a BSc in Electrical Engineering. Her PhD, “A Holistic White-Box Approach to Performance Modeling for Supercomputing,” focuses on analytic performance models, performance tools, and parallel simulation frameworks in HPC. She is involved in HPC initiatives including KONWHIR (LRZ), DFG MOD4COMP (TU Dresden and Jülich), and the NHR EEC (NHR centers). Within the IEEE Computer Society, she serves as Vice Chair of both the Germany Section Chapter and Region 8 Area 2, and Secretary of IEEE TCHPC. She founded the NHR Women in HPC chapter and organizes workshops at international conferences (SC, ISC, ACM HPDC, and SCA/HPCAsia). She is a member of professional societies (ACM, IEEE, SIAM, and PRACE), and contributes as chair, vice chair, PC member, Journal reviewer, panelist, and speaker. She was listed among the Top 100 Future Leaders Role Model List (2022–2025) supported by Yahoo Finance and YouTube, and received WeAreTheCity’s Global Award for Achievement (2023). She has authored numerous peer-reviewed publications, and her work has been recognized through distinctions: ISC PhD Forum Award (1st place, 2021), IEEE TPDS Best Paper Runner-up Award (2023), SC PMBS Best Short Paper Award (2023), SC Best Research Poster Finalist (2024), ISC Best Research Poster Award (1st place, 2025) and PhD with highest distinction (summa cum laude, 2026).

Poster Deputy Chair – Valerie Rossi, Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center, Carnegie Mellon Uiversity, United States of America

Chair – Dr. Vijeta Sharma, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Norway.

Dr. Vijeta Sharma is a scientist of High-Performance Computing and Artificial Intelligence (HPC-AI) at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Norway. She previously worked for 12 years at the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC), Pune, under the Ministry of Electronics & IT, Government of India, contributing to the National PARAM Supercomputing Facility (NPSF). She has over 16 years of R&D experience in industry and academia.

Her research focuses on AI and supercomputing, with expertise in optimising and parallelising AI models on accelerators (GPU, TPU, and IPU). She earned her Ph.D. in AI on HPC and M.Tech. in Data Science, and has published widely in AI, HPC, edge computing, and embodied intelligence.

She is a recipient of the Top 100 PhD research award (AWSAR-2020), India, and the Global Women Inspiration Award-2022. She is an active member of the Women in High Performance Computing (WHPC). She is the Organiser and General Chair of the workshop “AI on HPC – Performance Engineering, Challenges and Opportunities” at the  ISC 2026 , Hamburg, Germany, and the Supercomputing Conference (SC), USA. In 2026, she is also Chair of the ISC Women in HPC (WHPC) Tech Talk and speaker of the ISC Community Meet-Up (Title: AI factories in Europe).

She has delivered more than 70 invited talks globally, including as a keynote speaker. She is actively engaged in several technical activities under the EuroHPC.

co-Chair – Dr. Buket Benek Gursoy, Irish Centre for High-End Computing (ICHEC), Ireland. 

Buket joined Irish Centre for High-End Computing (ICHEC) in 2012 as a Computational Scientist. At ICHEC, she has contributed to user support activities as part of the National Service and worked on various PRACE and EuroHPC projects within Performance Engineering. She has also participated in graduate-level teaching as part of t

he Training and Education programme. Before joining ICHEC, she received Ph.D. from the Hamilton Institute, Maynooth University and M.Sc. in Computational Science and Engineering, Istanbul Technical University.

Buket is a member of the Women in HPC Ireland Chapter committee. Her primary interests include performance engineering particularly in optimising complex hybrid HPC workflows.

Sarah Johnston, Durham University, UK

Sarah is a final-year astronomy PhD student in the Institute for Computational Cosmology at Durham University in the UK. Her research focuses on GPU offloading for gravity operations in the SWIFT cosmology code and analysis tools for simulations of mixed dark matter models. She holds an MPhys in Astrophysics from University of St Andrews, and is passionate about engaging in HPC and loves exploring the intersection of astronomy and computing. Beyond her research she is passionate about EDI initiatives, especially getting girls and young women into science, and enjoys working with young people to encourage their curiosity for astrophysics and computing. 

Cristin Merritt

Cristin Merritt is Head of Communications at Alces Flight, with over 15 years of experience in enterprise technology and more than 9 years in High-Performance Computing (HPC). She specialises in helping organisations navigate the complex landscape of platforms, tools, and technologies required for successful HPC outcomes.

At Alces Flight, Cristin leads the delivery of complex projects, develops business cases and strategic reviews, and supports clients in maximising the impact of their HPC solutions. She is particularly focused on translating technical complexity into clear, actionable insight.

Cristin is an active member of the HPC community, serving as Executive Advisor for Women in HPC and contributing to the International Supercomputing Conference (ISC), Supercomputing Conference (SC) series, and Computing Insight UK conference series (CIUK).

Originally from the United States, she holds a degree in Classics from the University of Florida and is now based in Oxford, England, with her family.

Katya Zossimova

Karina Pesatova, IT4Innovations, VSB – Technical University of Ostrava

Elsa Gonsiorowski, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, USA

Elsa Gonsiorowski is a HPC Support Specialist at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory where she focuses on HPC I/O issues. She graduated with a Ph.D. in Computer Science in 2016 from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Elsa has been an active member of WHPC since 2016 and is an advocate for both women and men of underrepresented groups.