Recognition highlights use of the Wolfram Language in developing the experimental stations at Sirius
Harry Westfahl Jr., the director of the Synchrotron Light National Laboratory (LNLS) at the Brazilian Center for Research in Energy and Materials (CNPEM), was one of the winners of the Wolfram Innovator Award 2025 presented to outstanding professionals who use innovative computational approaches in their fields.
The director of the Brazilian Synchrotron Light Laboratory (LNLS/CNPEM), Harry Westfahl Jr., winner of the Wolfram Innovator Award.
The award recognizes Westfahl’s role in applying advanced computational methods to the development of the experimental stations at Sirius, Brazil’s synchrotron light source and the largest and most complex scientific infrastructure ever built in the country. Westfahl, who is a physicist, used the Wolfram Language to test, prototype and validate ideas, and also managed the work of his teams and send technical models and specifications during the project’s development phases.
Westfahl received the award during the Wolfram Technology Conference, held annually in the United States. This event brings together experts from different fields to present innovative applications using the Wolfram Language, which was created by Stephen Wolfram and is recognized for integrating symbolic computing, data and scientific knowledge into a single platform.
“It’s an honor to be part of such an outstanding group of professionals who have received this award. My admiration for Stephen Wolfram goes back to when I was doing my doctorate in the 1990s, when I began to use Wolfram Mathematica, and deepened during my post-doctorate at Urbana-Champaign in 1998, when I heard him discuss the ideas that would become part of the book A New Kind of Science. Receiving this award ‘directly from his hands’ made the moment especially meaningful,” said Westfahl.
Since 2011, the Wolfram Innovator Award has been given annually to scientists, engineers and professionals from various fields who push the boundaries of applied computer science.
About CNPEM
The Brazilian Center for Research in Energy and Materials (CNPEM) is home to a state-of-the-art, multi-user and multidisciplinary scientific environment and works on different fronts within the Brazilian National System for Science, Technology and Innovation. A social organization overseen by the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MCTI), CNPEM is driven by research that impacts the areas of health, energy, renewable materials, and sustainability. It is responsible for Sirius, the largest assembly of scientific equipment constructed in the country, and is currently constructing Project Orion, a laboratory complex for advanced pathogen research. Highly specialized science and engineering teams, sophisticated infrastructure open to the scientific community, strategic lines of investigation, innovative projects involving the productive sector, and training for researchers and students are the pillars of this institution that is unique in Brazil and able to serve as a bridge between knowledge and innovation. CNPEM’s research and development activities are carried out through its four National Laboratories: Synchrotron Light (LNLS), Biosciences (LNBio), Nanotechnology (LNNano), Biorenewables (LNBR), as well as its Technology Unit (DAT) and the Ilum School of Science — an undergraduate program in Science and Technology supported by the Ministry of Education (MEC).
