PEARC22: Overwhelmed by Greatness!

By Anna Little, US Air Force Academy Cadet

Boston was the perfect setting for the Practice & Experience in Advanced Research Computing (PEARC22) conference since it drew upon local industry and academia quite well. Riding the “T” was convenient; you could easily get from the Boston Park Plaza Hotel venue to various parts of the city in order to visit companies and campuses. I was grateful that even with all the opportunities the conference provided, I still had time to visit Kessel Run, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) campus to see the MIT Artificial Intelligence (AI) Accelerator. These experiences were especially valuable for an undergrad who is exploring grad options. Without the financial support I received to attend PEARC22, I doubt that I would have had this opportunity.

I was overwhelmed by the talent of students in my cohort. My undergraduate education had not exposed me to high …

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STEM-Trek needs advisers and officers!

Register your interest by July 1, 2022.

STEM-Trek officers and advisory board agree to promote STEM-Trek through their social networks by sharing news and ‘liking’ our FaceBookLinkedIn and web site. Each of these tools will feed the STEM-Trek knowledge network – the glue that binds us all!

Participation requires very little time – we try to meet annually at the Supercomputing Conference (or virtual), and occasionally advice is needed (two or three emails each year).

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Vint Cerf

STEM-Trek@SC21 Blog: Vint Cerf on Computing and the Humanities

By:  Marcelina Nagales (Florida State University)

Google Chief Internet Evangelist Vint Cerf provided a glimpse into the future by citing references from the past during his SC21 Keynote titled, “Computing and the Humanities.” 

While he’s clearly a technology advocate, Cerf thinks we would benefit as a society from requiring students to complete a “Drivers Ed,” or a computer literacy/critical skills course, that will help them safely navigate the internet. We should routinely question the source of information, and make informed decisions based on scientific evidence, vs. misinformation or disinformation, for example. 

He mentioned a book written in 1909 by E.M. Forster titled, “The Machine Stops.” Forster wrote about a civilization that sheltered in place, and communicated with …

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arianna martin

Kinship and Community at SC21

Arianna Martin (Southwestern Oklahoma State University) 

For many who work in the High-Performance Computing Industry (HPC), answering the question, “What do you do?” is a universal struggle. How do you explain the nature of your vocation to your uncle at Thanksgiving such that his eyes don’t squint in confusion, but rather light up with understanding and interest? Not to mention that HPC is a small (yet global) community, and nearly every time you respond to that question, you are introducing your conversation partner to the idea of a supercomputer.  

Personally, I’ve had that experience many times in the past 18 months. I am a fifth-year undergraduate who switched majors from music performance to computer science during COVID in 2020. I immediately joined my new advisor in his long-term project of increasing HPC resources and education at our university, and ever since, I’ve been on a path to becoming an HPC …

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Marcus’s STEM-Trek@SC21 Blog: SC-rebooted and every bit as engaging!

Attending the first pandemic in-person SC was not without its concerns (and I say pandemic because this thing is not over). But with a vaccination requirement and a mask mandate, attendance safety protocols were stricter than at my workplace. I wondered how the conference would proceed in a hybrid format with substantially reduced in-person attendance compared to previous years. As a Missourian, there was frustration that we finally got SC in St. Louis, but in circumstances that made in-person attendance difficult for some.

St. Louis is only a two-hour drive for me, I have a stash of N95 masks and a year of experience navigating the pandemic in a classroom environment. Assistance from STEM-Trek removed whatever lingering doubts I might have …

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Beyza’s STEM-Trek@SC21 Blog: Days 1&2

By Emine Beyza Dagli

Crisp autumn weather set the stage for SC21 in St. Louis, Missouri. It was my first time visiting this area, and I enjoyed sightseeing when I wasn’t involved with the conference. Among iconic landmarks is the “Arch,” which is a magnificent feat of engineering. I traveled to the top of The Gateway to the West and can now understand how it got that name; the adventure offered a bird’s eye view of the city and miles beyond.

On the first day, I attended the Parallel Computing 101 tutorial led by Professors Quentin F. Stout and Christiane Jablonowski from the University of Michigan. Following introductions, they explained some of the basic terms and acronyms that many in the industry take …

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UbuntuHouse Guests

Marcelina’s STEM-Trek@SC21 Blog: Days 1&2!

By:  Marcelina Nagales (Florida State University)

What an eventful and information-packed week SC21 was! 

I lodged with five others in STEM-Trek’s “UbuntuHouse,” which was two adjoined 3BR/3BA condos. There were two full-service kitchens stocked with snacks and breakfast items. A few of us coffee-drinkers congregated in one kitchen each morning, and we often shared transportation to and from the convention center. It was a great way to meet others who were also attending SC that week – we had our own tiny community. While this year’s attendance was 3,200 on-site (UPDATE: SC21 had ~3,200 in-person attendees and ~3,300 remote attendees.  ~380 sessions), SC normally draws 10-15,000. I can imagine it would be easy to get lost in the crowd if your work …

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Join ScienceSlam Host Mohamad Qayoom October 15

#ScienceSlam@SC21…

The submission window is now closed. Thank you!

Would you like to attend SC21 in St. Louis, Missouri (US) November 14-19 but lack travel support? The SC international conference series draws more than 10,000 high-performance computing, storage and analysis enthusiasts from around the world. While SC20 was totally virtual, SC21 will have both virtual and in-person registration options.

STEM-Trek Nonprofit will help 28* individuals attend SC21 via three contests: ScienceSlam@SC, our inaugural “Pathfinders@SC21,” and a special opportunity for early-career communicators!  Three to eight-minute video submissions are accepted in the first two categories, and writing examples are required for the third.

Once again, cybersecurity thought leader and Toastmasters International enthusiast Mohamad Qayoom will serve as our host!

The “Pathfinder” contest welcomes career arc video testimonials from mid- to late-career research computing and data science (RCD) professionals. While examples at the above link are from a PEARC21 …

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