Today I’m happy to share that I sucessfully defended my thesis titled Towards Mitigating Co-Incident Peak Power Consumption and Managing Energy Utilization in Heterogeneous Clusters on April 29th, 2018.
In March 5th, 2000, the day after my tenth birthday, my mom and I landed in New York City. We arrived at the airport with two suitcases, a few personal belongings, and a laundry list of hopes and dreams. Looking back on that moment, writing this acknowledgement section to thank all the people that helped me along the way to getting a PhD feels surreal.
There are many folks without whom this thesis would not be possible. Their help, guidance, support, and patience have proved crucial to this achievement.
From my days in the Port Washington, NY
- Tony Boccia, Steve Friedman, and Warren Herz, my football (soccer) coaches. Thank you for going out of your way to provide me with a platform to integrate into the US while playing a sport I continue to love.
- Joan Budny and her family for always making me feel like I was just another member of the clan.
- The Sweeney family for their support.
- Bob Joseph, my 6th grade teacher, and the first teacher to tell me I could achieve great things and get me to believe in myself.
- Jim Jones, my 9th Biology teacher, for fostering my love for science.
- My AP European History teacher, Petro MacRigiane, for believing in me and always pushing me to be a to achieve more academically.
- My strength training track and field coach, Doug Matina. Doug Matina taught me the importance of developing my mental strength and to never give up, no matter who or what is ahead.
- My track and cross country coach, AP US History teacher, fellow Binghamton alumni, and mentor, Jeremy Klaff, for being a great teacher, both in the class room and in life. Thanks for your life lessons, for looking out for me, and for helping me be a better person.
- My former cross country and track and field teammates. Completing a PhD felt a lot like running an endless race. I often thought back to the days we all spent running together and remembered how good it felt to just finish the race, especially when you felt the odds were stacked up against you. You guys continue to be a daily source of inspiration as I see you all achieve great milestones in your careers and personal lives.
From my days at Binghamton University
- My mentor, Jessica Hartog, who played a key role in helping me choose an area of study, mentored me, and taught me how to write technical papers.
- My labmates Abhishek Jain and Pradyumna Kaushik, who selflessly donated hours upon hours of their free time as Master’s students to my research. I wouldn’t be writing this without your constant support and friendship.
- Professors Leslie Lander, Eileen Head, Patrick Madden, David Liu, Mike Lewis, and Tim Miller for their friendship, dedication, teachings, and guidance.
- Craig Stewart and all the folks involved with Jetstream at Indiana University who gave me the opportunity to play a small part in helping launch one of the first academic clouds.
From my friends and family
- My mom Carmen for her support, her unconditional love, and her many sacrifices that made this a reality. Thank you for leaving the comfort of all that you knew in search of better opportunities for me.
- My cousin Felipe, his partner María Fernanda, my two nieces, Sofi and Leo, my aunt Michelina, and my cousin José Salinas for their constant love and support from more than eight thousand kilometers away in Chile.
- My step father, Luis, who is no longer with us but I know would be extremely proud of this accomplishment.
- The Richie and Wasserman family for fostering my love of computers by letting me build my very first computer for them.
- My friends, old and new, who have helped me along the way. You guys are a big part of why I was able to write this.
My current and former colleagues at PayPal
- My manager Meghdoot for allowing me to come back as an intern three (yes, three) times while I was a PhD candidate.
- My co-worker Misho for pushing me to finish this degree when motivation was at an all time low.
- The rest of the Genesis team for the support, advice, and encouragement along the way. Without my internships at eBay/PayPal, this thesis would not exist.
The folks at the Apache Aurora and Apache Mesos projects, without whom my work presented here would not have been possible
Last but not least my advisor, Madhusudhan Govindaraju, who always found a way to keep the process engaging and entertaining
I’d also like to acknowledge the National Science Foundation (NSF) funded Louis Stokes Alliances for Minority Participation (LSAMP) Bridges to Doctorate (BD) program as well as the Clifford D. Clark Diversity Fellowship for providing me with funding which has allowed me to achieve this goal.
This thesis is dedicated to my late grandparents Waldo Rueda Jara and Carmen Sáez Sepúlveda and my late step father Luis Araya.
-Renán