Marius Vassiliou (born 1957) is an American

computational scientist A computational scientist is a person skilled in scientific computing. This person is usually a scientist, a statistician, an applied mathematician, or an engineer who applies high-performance computing and sometimes cloud computing in different w ...

geophysicist Geophysics () is a subject of natural science concerned with the physical processes and physical properties of the Earth and its surrounding space environment, and the use of quantitative methods for their analysis. The term ''geophysics'' som ...

, and

aerospace Aerospace is a term used to collectively refer to the atmosphere and outer space. Aerospace activity is very diverse, with a multitude of commercial, industrial and military applications. Aerospace engineering consists of aeronautics and astrona ...

executive. He is also an authority on the

history of petroleum While the local use of oil goes back many centuries, the modern petroleum industry along with its outputs and modern applications are of a recent origin. Petroleum's status as a key component of politics, society, and technology has its roots in t ...

. Vassiliou is of Greek Cypriot descent and was educated at

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

and the

California Institute of Technology The California Institute of Technology (branded as Caltech or CIT)The university itself only spells its short form as "Caltech"; the institution considers other spellings such a"Cal Tech" and "CalTech" incorrect. The institute is also occasional ...

(PhD).

Career

geophysics Geophysics () is a subject of natural science concerned with the physical processes and physical properties of the Earth and its surrounding space environment, and the use of quantitative methods for their analysis. The term ''geophysics'' som ...

, he is best known for his explanations of the depth distribution of earthquakes, and for his direct (non-Magnitude-based) calculations of earthquake energy release. Vassiliou has also been cited for his experimental work on solids at high pressures and temperatures. In 2009 he published the ''Historical Dictionary of the Petroleum Industry'', which went into a Second Edition in 2018. In the broader field of

computational physics Computational physics is the study and implementation of numerical analysis to solve problems in physics for which a quantitative theory already exists. Historically, computational physics was the first application of modern computers in science, ...

, Vassiliou is known for the introduction of Rokhlin's

fast multipole method __NOTOC__ The fast multipole method (FMM) is a numerical technique that was developed to speed up the calculation of long-ranged forces in the ''n''-body problem. It does this by expanding the system Green's function using a multipole expansion, w ...

to computational electromagnetics. As an executive at the

Rockwell International Corporation Rockwell International was a major American manufacturing conglomerate involved in aircraft, the space industry, defense and commercial electronics, components in the automotive industry, printing presses, avionics and industrial products. R ...

he was also well known as the leader of the U. S.

Army Research Laboratory The U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command Army Research Laboratory (DEVCOM ARL) is the U.S. Army's foundational research laboratory. ARL is headquartered at the Adelphi Laboratory Center (ALC) in Adelphi, Maryland. Its largest sing ...

's Advanced Displays Federated Laboratory Consortium in the late 1990s and early 2000s, making advances in the interaction of humans with displays. The work in

augmented reality Augmented reality (AR) is an interactive experience that combines the real world and computer-generated content. The content can span multiple sensory modalities, including visual, auditory, haptic, somatosensory and olfactory. AR can be de ...

included early development of the types of technologies that would later be applied to such platforms as

google glass Google Glass, or simply Glass, is a brand of smart glasses developed and sold by Google. It was developed by X (previously Google X), with the mission of producing an ubiquitous computer. Google Glass displays information to the wearer using ...

. In later years, as an analyst advising the U.S. Government, he wrote influential papers on Command, Control, and Communications, including some with

David Alberts David Stephen Alberts (born 1942) is a former American Director of Research for the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Networks and Information Integration (NII). Biography David S. Alberts did his undergraduate work was at Cit ...

, and published the book ''C2 Re-envisioned: the Future of the Enterprise'', which has also been translated into Chinese.Vassiliou, Marius, David S. Alberts, and Jonathan R. Agre (2017). ''C2 Re-Envisioned: the Future of the Enterprise'' (Chinese Edition). Beijing: National Defense Industry Press. In 2022 Vassiliou, along with professor Mir-Yusif Mir-Babayev, published the book ''US and Azerbaijani Oil in the Nineteenth Century: The Two Titans'', which covers the early period of the petrochemical age, when the United States and Azerbaijan were responsible for 97% of the world's oil production.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vassiliou, Marius American geophysicists American computer scientists American people of Greek Cypriot descent American people of Greek descent 1957 births Living people California Institute of Technology alumni Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences alumni University of Southern California alumni UCLA Anderson School of Management alumni