About Rolf Hempel

Rolf Hempel initially specialised in the numerical solution of simulation problems during his mathematics studies at the University of Bonn. After starting his career in 1985, however, he became increasingly involved in the development of standardised programming techniques for the emerging parallel computers at the Gesellschaft für Mathematik und Datenverarbeitung (GMD).

To this end, he and three colleagues launched the international "Message Passing Interface" initiative in 1992. The MPI programming model developed there is still the predominant standard in high-performance computing today. After five years at the Japanese electronics group NEC, where he helped to set up a European research centre for high-performance computing, he joined the German Aerospace Centre in 2001. Here, he initially headed the Simulation and Software Technology Centre and, until the end of 2022, the Institute of Software Technology.

In his spare time, Rolf Hempel has been a passionate amateur astronomer for over 40 years. A software package for calculating definitive planetary orbits, which he developed alongside his studies for the Astromische Rechen-Institut in Heidelberg, was used there for over 25 years for minor planet research. For this and for his activities as a small planet hunter (IAU Observatory Code 519), the small planet 9820 Hempel was named after him. Today, Rolf Hempel is interested not only in lunar photography but also in open source software development for astronomical applications.