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Remembering David through photos
David filled his personal web page with his art, intellect and humor.
Remembering David, "Why am I here?"
I met David circa 1989 about the time I had completed my PhD. At the time I was heavily involved with the infant Artificial Heart Program at UPMC, and was ardently seeking a solution to a serious problem that threatened to put an end to the program just as it was starting. I sought out David’s assistance to perform computational analysis of the blood flow within the artificial heart device, specifically to identify the cause of dangerous blood-clotting that was occurring. In spite of great enthusiasm to delve into the field of supercomputing, had no clue what I was doing. David, as you could imagine, was most welcoming, in his impish sort of way. He truly went out of his way to invite our collaboration. And because of his friendly and humble personality, he made it possible for a neophyte such as me to overcome anxiety and fear of inadequacy in the shadow of this new technology.
The most vivid recollection that sums up my impression of David occurred during a trip to NASA/Langley-ICASE. This also occurred in the late 80’s, early 90’s during an era when computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis was still in its infancy. And because of the scarcity of expertise in the region, my partner and I had solicited expertise from the ICASE group (Institute for Computer Applications in Science and Engineering). Without hesitation, David accepted our invitation to join us on the 8 hour trip. We drove separately, but met up at the same motel to bunk for the night. The following morning, as we were getting ready to debark for our presentation at ICASE, David turns to me and asks, “Remind me. Why am I here?”
The fact that David would agree to drive 8 hours to attend a meeting without asking “why,” or what he was needed to do was both very funny, and extraordinarily magnanimous. I cannot imagine EVER meeting another person in my lifetime, let alone someone with David’s exceptional intellect and expertise, who would be such an unselfish, generous colleague. And the fact that David would continue to fulfill his duties up until his last days is not at all uncharacteristic. “There is no greater love than this, to give your life for your friends.”
Thank you, David, for your many selfless acts of generosity.