Hick Shifts Gears in NERSC’s Storage Systems Group, Takes on New Role

Jason Hick, who has been group lead of the Storage Systems Group (SSG) at NERSC since first coming to the center in 2006, has decided to return to his roots as a senior storage engineer, applying his computer science background and management expertise to NERSC’s next-generation data storage and data management challenges. Effective immediately, Damian Hazen will take over as acting group lead of the SSG.

During Hick’s nine years as group lead, SSG has expanded in both size and scope. When he first took over, there were five full-time SSG staff, including Hick; today there are 10, with several open positions. In addition, the group initially focused primarily on overseeing the archival storage systems at NERSC. But during Hick’s tenure their responsibilities grew to include managing 15 NERSC center-wide file systems and numerous enterprise databases for the JGI. As a result, the SSG now comprises three teams: archival storage, file systems and enterprise database.

“I’m excited to hand over the group at this point because I feel I’ve put the best of me into this,” Hick said. “I’m eager to leave on a high note and turn it over to someone who has fresh ideas, can hire new people and really put their stamp on the group.”

In his new role, Hick will apply his computer science skills and management experience to help NERSC and its users prepare for the next generation of supercomputers and data management needs. Toward this end, he will work to foster new collaborations among the SSG teams and across NERSC.

“At its core, my new position will involve designing and architecting storage systems for NERSC and introducing new storage and data management services that will improve user productivity,” he said. “I will be working on both exascale storage challenges and the data-intensive challenges we face. Personally, I want to refresh my technical skills and reapply myself in a more hands-on role within the group.”

Hick holds a B.S. in Computer Science from the United States Military Academy. From 2001-2006, he worked as a developer in the HPSS collaboration and led Los Alamos National Lab’s Data Storage Team, managing several multi-PB archives and a site-wide Tivoli Storage Manager backup solution. He has served as President of the Large Tape Users Group. He currently serves as HPSS Technical Committee chairperson and voting representative of SPXXL for Berkeley Lab.

“Jason has done a fantastic job leading SSG for the last nine years and I fully support his desire to reengage technically,” said Katie Antypas, NERSC’s deputy for data science and User Services Group lead. “He is the quintessential team player and always looked out for his group. I know he will make significant contributions in his new role as senior storage engineer.”