What's your background? I have a BS and a MS in physics, and I'm a member of several professional societies such as ACM and IEEE.

What's something about you that other people find surprising? My real passion is history – political and technological. I really enjoyed Yuval Noah Harari’s Sapiens, which offers a different and ironic view of human evolution, such as how wheat domesticated humans instead of the inverse.

In a university as large as Ohio State, you're bound to find unusual jobs. But ASCTech Senior research consultant John Heimaster's description of his job stands out: “A good deal of what I do is matchmaking,” Heimaster says.

 

It's not what you think.

 

As Heimaster explains, "I bring together people who didn’t know they should know one another or I bring them a piece of technology that will help their work." It's part of his job to “improve the competitiveness of [Ohio State] researchers” by chairing two external committees that seek to "speak for policies and facilities that facilitate research." You can learn more about this committee's work with topics like large-scale computing and storage by reviewing Computing and Networking Resoures for OSU Researchers.

 

This work has Heimaster collaborating with a diverse set of ASC personnel from research faculty to ASC Divisional Dean for Research Christopher Hadad to ASCTech personnel. Heimaster's work allows him to continue learning about his "deep interest in the evolution of computing technology" and provides "a continuing amazement at the breadth of research that OSU does," says Heimaster. He counts himself lucky because he "learn[s] something new every day." He also gets to teach others something new during the course he's taught for 47 years, CSE5434, "Engineering of Operating Systems." 

If you need someone to help with your technology, request help from ASCTech and maybe you'll work with John Heimaster.