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Center for High-Performance Computing plans to build cyberinfrastructure in Southern Africa
Above: Winners of the 2013 Student Cluster Competition. Last year, the 2012 South African team went on to win first place at the International Supercomputing Conference Student Cluster Challenge in Leipzig, Germany. CHPC Director Happy Sithole hopes this year’s winning team will continue the tradition by flying South Africa’s flag in Leipzig once again in 2014!
Dear STEM-Trek Community:
I’ve written a full feature about the recent Center for High-Performance Computing’s (CHPC) annual conference and the South African Development Community (SADC) Forum meeting. Until the story is vetted, I’d like to share a few highlights.
The CHPC is leading the effort to build a cyberinfrastructure framework for SADC member countries that will span the lower half of the continent and facilitate research, education, and industrial collaborations around the world.
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STEM-Trek community at 900 and growing!
Please join the growing STEM-Trek community on FaceBook and LinkedIn. You can also follow us on Twitter @STEMTrek.
An artist, a doctor and a mathematician walk into a pub…
The bartender (a retired psychologist) says…
By Elizabeth Leake, STEM-Trek with photography by Lloyd DeGrane.
“You’re together?!?”
Let’s face it. In real life, this seldom happens. If we went out for a drink after work, we would most likely be accompanied by friends who think the way we do, vote for the same candidates, and share the same or a related occupation.
Most of us gravitate toward careers that align with our aptitude (arguably, opportunity and environment are key factors). While there are many gifted people who possess a wide range of skills and abilities, most of us are best suited for a specific occupation. We tend …
Chicago liberates data; becomes multidisciplinary urban research testbed
Photography by Lloyd DeGrane
The Urban Center for Computation and Data (UrbanCCD) and the University of Chicago Urban Network hosted an interdisciplinary workshop at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago on Friday, February 15. Participants from a variety of research domains, organizations, and regions discussed ways that collaborative research teams could use public and private sector urban data including a growing collection of city data being published through the transparency initiatives of Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel. The event was a remarkable confluence of social and computational science that produced rich, cross-cultural discourse about urban issues of extreme importance to society.
UrbanCCD Director Charlie Catlett, Senior Fellow at the Computation Institute (a joint initiative of the University of Chicago and Argonne National Laboratory) and …
Presenting to a STEM group? Include a STEM-Trek slide!
Photo by Peter Harsha, Computing Research Association
Will you be presenting at a technical conference in the near future? When the opportunity arises, please tell people about us! Download the slide (left) for your presentation, or contact us for a full set of 29!
Encourage others to join the growing STEM-Trek community on FaceBook, LinkedIn, and/or follow us on Twitter @STEMTrek.
The first (travel award) application deadline is March 15!
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eScience and a Tale of Two Cities
It was the best of times; it was the worst of times…
By Elizabeth Leake, STEM-Trek
More than 200 million copies of A Tale of Two Cities have sold making it one of the most popular novels ever written. Charles Dickens’ fictional classic, about the lives of people in two great cities during the years leading up to The Revolution of 1789, wasn’t published until 1859 when several regions were, once again, facing social upheaval. Perhaps those who bought the book hoped it would provide insight since history, as reliable as death and taxes, has been known to repeat.
Due to science and engineering advances, 20th century citizens were healthier, well-traveled, and far better educated as a whole. Cities were more thoughtfully designed to address contemporary lifestyles and comparatively peaceful. Until recently, urban planning involved more reacting than proactive preparation.
More than two hundred years later ‘best and worst of …
Surviving the lost generation; STEM-Trek’s interview with Ben Payne, HPC Postdoc
By Elizabeth Leake, STEM-Trek
When there are a disproportionate number of unemployed youths, the economic recovery process is delayed for future generations, and this seems to be the problem in many countries today. When they can’t find jobs, and can’t afford to go to college, many young adults will continue to live with their parents well into their thirties. In regions hardest hit, fewer will pursue PhD’s in STEM-related fields. In fact, many countries are concerned they are experiencing a national brain-drain as those with scholastic aptitude flee in search of education and employment opportunities elsewhere.
In advanced economies that are undergoing a period of joblessness, college students accrue debt with uncertain repayment …
Nicholas Thorne, CHPC, South Africa
Nicholas Thorne works for the South African Center for High Performance Computing as an HPC engineer in their advanced computer engineering laboratory (CHPC-ACE).
Nick graduated from the University of Cape Town (UCT) with an electrical and computer engineering degree in 2007 before joining CHPC-ACE as a graduate assistant while he completed a masters of science degree in computer engineering at UCT. His masters work involved the development of the ACE1 FPGA based co-processor card. As a full-time employee at CHPC, he now continues to develop prototype products (hardware and software) for use in future CHPC production environments.
ACE lab projects serve a range of disciplines. Some evaluate cluster management technologies, such as the incorporation of cloud-enabled HPC and server template work, while others …
Nkwebi “Peace” Motlogelwa, University of Botswana
Peace is a lecturer at the University of Botswana in the Computer Science (CS) department where he teaches courses on discrete mathematics, distributed systems, integrative programming, programming languages, and compilers.
Before he became engaged with HPC, he was involved with a Microsoft-funded HIV/AIDS project that explored how wireless and mobile technologies improve public health in under-served communities. He learned how spatially-relevant public health information is used to inform policy and spending priorities, and that it is also useful to communicate life-saving information to illiterate and semi-illiterate people in rural regions who lack access to health education.
As a partner in support of the SADC cyberinfrastructure, Peace recognizes how high performance computing (HPC) and data science accelerate research in all scientific domains. He therefore …