CAIMS*SCMAI Research Prize 2004
Winner and Citation

Dr. Robert Russell, Applied and Computational Mathematics, Simon Fraser University

Bob Russell is a leading researcher in the field of scientific computing and numerical analysis. His research has contributed substantially to the development, analysis, and software implementation of adaptive methods for the numerical solution of differential equations in three broad areas: boundary value problems for ordinary differential equations, problems in dynamical systems, and time-dependent partial differential equations. Perhaps the biggest challenge in solving differential equations has been to design robust adaptive algorithms, and mesh adaptation has unquestionably become one of the most important areas of scientific computing. Difficulties have been compounded by the general lack of understanding of many of the basic principles behind adaptive schemes. Russell's contributions to improved mesh adaption are central to the subject and include the introduction of key adaptive methods and software as well as the development of a fundamental theoretical framework to use in analyzing adaptive techniques.