Published February 9, 2026
The FABRIC team is pleased to announce Dr. Rafael Coelho Lopes de Sá as a new FABRIC Ambassador. Rafael is an Associate Professor of Physics at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where his research focuses on experimental particle physics and large-scale distributed computing for scientific discovery.
Rafael is a member of the ATLAS Collaboration at CERN, one of the world’s largest and most complex scientific experiments. This project seeks to further our understanding of fundamental particles and forces by analyzing high-energy proton collisions produced at the Large Hadron Collider. These experiments generate massive volumes of data and rely on globally distributed computing infrastructure to process, analyze, and share results across hundreds of institutions worldwide.
In addition to his physics research, Rafael plays a key role in managing distributed computing and data infrastructure for the U.S. ATLAS collaboration, which includes more than 40 institutions nationwide. He helps oversee how data is processed, transferred, and analyzed across institutions, work that has become increasingly complex as experiments grow in scale and data volume.
Advancing Distributed Computing with FABRIC
Rafael’s involvement with FABRIC grew out of a practical need to test and develop next-generation networking and data-movement solutions for large scientific experiments. As particle physics experiments push the boundaries of science and technology, they require more advanced tools to manage data movement, optimize network usage, and support increasingly sophisticated workflows. “Every upgrade pushes the boundaries of the technology. We’re collecting more data, at higher rates, and with greater complexity, and that means the networking and data infrastructure becomes just as critical as the physics itself.”
Rafael and his collaborators use FABRIC as a testbed to prototype and evaluate new approaches to:
- Distributed data processing and orchestration
- Network performance monitoring and optimization
- Intelligent data movement and prioritization
- Scalable research infrastructure for multi-institution collaborations
“FABRIC is an ideal development environment for us. It lets us test new ways of moving and managing data, experiment with network orchestration, and develop solutions that we can later deploy in production. That ability to experiment and iterate is essential for what we do.”
Rafael has also incorporated FABRIC into research projects at UMass Amherst, where students gain hands-on experience working with advanced networking and distributed computing systems. Through these efforts, FABRIC has become a key platform for both research innovation and education.
Community Engagement and Research Impact
Rafael has presented his work at major venues, including Supercomputing 2025, where he demonstrated network orchestration techniques used to prioritize and manage large-scale scientific data transfers. His work highlights how programmable network infrastructure can directly support scientific discovery by improving efficiency, reliability, and scalability.
As a FABRIC Ambassador, Rafael is particularly interested in expanding awareness of FABRIC within the broader scientific community, especially among researchers who may not yet realize how testbeds like FABRIC can support their work.
“Many scientific fields are now facing the same data and networking challenges that particle physics has dealt with for decades,” Rafael explained. “FABRIC provides a way for researchers to experiment, collaborate, and develop solutions before deploying them at scale. I’m excited to help more scientists discover what’s possible.”
Looking Ahead as a FABRIC Ambassador
In his role as a FABRIC Ambassador, Rafael plans to:
- Engage researchers across physics and other data-intensive disciplines
- Promote awareness of FABRIC as a research and experimentation platform
- Support local and regional outreach efforts
- Share best practices for using FABRIC in scientific workflows
- Encourage collaboration between domain scientists and networking researchers
By connecting researchers with FABRIC’s capabilities, Rafael hopes to help accelerate scientific discovery and broaden the community of users exploring advanced networking and distributed systems.
To learn more about the FABRIC Ambassador Program and how researchers are using FABRIC to advance science, visit the FABRIC blog.