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Olaf Storaasli

computer scientist, research scientist, engineer

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Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionAug 19, 2026
Entity authorityQ7083000
Source-derived summary

Olaf O. Storaasli is a scientist & engineer who worked at NASA[1]), Oak Ridge National Laboratory[2]), Centrus Energy, & Synective Labs. At NASA, he led a hardware, software & applications teams to successfully develop one of NASA's first parallel computers, the finite element machine, & developed rapid matrix equation algorithms tailored for high-performance computers to harness FPGA & GPU accelerators to solve science & engineering applications. He was a graduate advisor & instructor at the University of Tennessee, George Washington University & Christopher Newport University.

Education

Storaasli received a B.A. in physics, mathematics, & French at Concordia College (1964). He went on to earn an M.A. in mathematics at University of South Dakota (1966) and a Ph.D. in engineering mechanics at NCSU (1970). He was a postdoctoral fellow at the Norwegian University of Science & Technology ([3] (1984–85]) & the University of Edinburgh(2008).

Research

He developed, tested and documented parallel analysis software to speed matrix equation solution to simulate physical & biological behavior on advanced-computer architectures (e.g. NASA's GPS solver based on prior Finite element machine and rapid parallel analysis of Space Shuttle SRB redesign earned Cray's 1st GigaFLOP Performance Award at Supercomputing '89).

Books Archived 2018-03-30 at the Wayback Machine

Engineering Applications on NASA's FPGA-based Hypercomputer, 7th MAPLD, Washington, D.C., Sept 2004.

Large-Scale Analysis, Design and Intelligent Synthesis Environments, Elsevier Sciences, 2000.

Editorial summary

Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Olaf Storaasli” is computer scientist, research scientist, engineer. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Olaf, Storaasli and computer, not as a finished interpretation.

Editorial reviewA useful biographical orientation record, particularly for establishing names, roles and a first chronology. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1964, 1966, 1970, 1984—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1943-05-15. For this dossier, Olaf, Storaasli and computer is the immediate research focus.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The phrase “computer scientist, research scientist, engineer” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.

Evidence profile

Biographical claims are most persuasive when dates, appointments and relationships can be traced to records created close to the events described. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 19, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q7083000. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1964, 1966, 1970 and 1984.

Critical limits

A concise life account rarely captures disputed attribution, private networks or the changing language used to describe a career. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Read biographical claims against dates, named institutions and the cited references. Distinguish a subject’s later reputation from evidence produced during their lifetime.

Best used for
  • Establishing names and roles
  • Building a first chronology
  • Locating cited institutions
Verify next

Personal papers, civil or court records, institutional files and the scholarship cited by the source.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Olaf Storaasli”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Olaf Storaasli primary sources, Olaf Storaasli archive and Olaf research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Olaf Storaasli”?
  2. Which primary records establish identity, chronology and institutional ties?
  3. How has the subject’s reputation changed across later accounts?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from Olaf Storaasli” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.