It was unbearably sad and shocking to hear recently about the passing of Ashish. When we chatted online last fall, he shared in an optimistic mood that the brain tumor had stabilized — so I didn’t expect it to happen so fast. I have also got used to seeing the stream of photos he shared on Facebook for the last couple of years, some of which were his last creations as I came to realize.

I met Ashish first in the CCLMS lab at LSU right after I joined in fall 2000. We collaborated on the visualization of ultra-scale MD simulation data before and after we transferred to CACS at USC in 2002. In USC Ashish built the immersive viz-wall and the visualization system behind it from scratch, which showcased his passion and talent for making data look attractive using the latest technology. For the last couple of years, some of his text posts on Facebook were a little hard to make sense of, probably due to the medications. But when I saw the photos he created or enhanced with personal touch and AI technologies, I thought to myself: hey that was the Ashish I knew!

Before he moved to OSU for the postdoc, we shared an apartment close to USC campus for a semester. We would hang out for dinners, movies, video games, and more. When he laughed at my selection of souvenirs during our trip to the SC conference, I would display them in our shared space for retaliation. He felt to me like a brother that I never had. I was glad that we also collaborated on a paper remotely after he left USC and kept in touch over the years.

While it is still hard to believe that Ashish has left us at such a young age, I found comfort in knowing that he will live on through his intellectual legacy with the science community and loving memories with his family. I shall forever remember his big smile, upbeat personality, and strong dedication to perfection.