Dr Krisztian Kohary
Research IT Officer (Astrophysics)
Location: Physics 405
Telephone: 01392 725515
Extension: (Streatham) 5515
Dr Krisztian Kohary
Research IT Officer (Astrophysics)
Dr Kohary joined the University of Exeter as part of the Research IT team in April 2018. His main role is to support and advise the computational modelling research aspects of the Astrophysics group (CEMPS, University of Exeter) reporting directly to his line manager Martyn Brake and to Professor Isabelle Baraffe (Head of Astrophysics).
One of Dr Kohary's main responsibilities is the coordination and management of the Unified Model (UM) as part of the weather and climate science modelling within the Met Office Academic Partnership (MOAP). This involves the maintenance and development of the UM code on our local development and High Performance Computing (HPC) facilities at Exeter and elsewhere (DiRAC, Leicester). Dr Kohary works closely with and reports to the Exeter UM Academic Lead Professor Nathan Mayne.
Dr Kohary is also responsible for the maintenance of 20+ Linux, Mac, and various NAS servers that are in use within the Astrophysics group, in addition to the support of Mac and Linux desktop computers, reporting to the Astrophysics group Academic Lead Professor Isabelle Baraffe. In addition, Dr Kohary provides computational support for the on-site observatory that is maintained for undergraduate teaching purposes working closely with Dr Jennifer Hatchell.
Dr Kohary first developed his interest in non-conventional and highly customised Research IT when working part-time in an IT support role as the Adviser of the Materials Modelling Laboratory (MML) at the Department of Materials (University of Oxford). This job required to undertake IT management and administrative tasks; training staff and students in the use of computer facilities within the group and at Oxford; the installation, test, and implementation of complex scientific software; maintenance of a reliable and efficient local Linux computer network; and membership of the University IT committee overlooking the realisation of the Oxford Supercomputer Centre at the time. The variety and flavour of these jobs remains the core framework of Dr Kohary's Research IT professional development ever since.
Dr Kohary graduated with an MSc in Engineering Physics from the Budapest University of Technology and Economics (Hungary) and with a PhD in Natural Sciences (Theoretical Physics) from Philipps University Marburg (Germany). Between 2002 and 2008 Dr Kohary worked as Postdoctoral Research Assistant at the University of Oxford contributing to the research and development (R&D) of semiconductor data storage and display devices developed at Hewlett-Packard Labs (Palo Alto, California). Dr Kohary worked as a Researcher, Lecturer, and Associate Professor in the field of materials science and electronic engineering at the University of Exeter (2008-2016) and at Obuda University (2016-2018).