STEM-Trek News

Mohsin Desai is an information technology business analyst and project manager at the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa.

He helps manage the high performance computing (HPC) facility which serves the computer science, mathematics, statistics, and actuarial science departments. They support a range of applications, including machine learning, astrophysics simulation, remote sensing, and data processing (for the physics and mechanical engineering departments). They offer Matlab and Mathematica, and use TORQUE/Maui for scheduling. Additionally, Mohsin mentors postgraduate scholars who help researchers run simulations and calculations.

Their new data center received two Ranger racks, and Mohsin installed the systems, power, network, and ventilation requirements with the help of colleagues from the Center for High Performance Computing (CHPC) in Cape Town. He …

Maybin Douglas Lengwe is a lecturer at Copperbelt University, the second largest university in Zambia. He graduated in 2008 from Copperbelt with a bachelor of science degree in Computer Science (CS), and earned a master’s degree in CS and Information Science from Cleveland State University, Ohio-U.S. in 2011.

After completing his graduate studies, Maybin was recruited by Copperbelt’s CS department to work as a lecturer. He now teaches Introduction to Computing (more than 1000 students), Data Structures, Algorithm and Programming, Object Oriented Programming, Multimedia Systems, and Management Information Systems.

Maybin is new to high performance computing (HPC). There was no regional infrastructure to support the field, but his university recently received a donated HPC system from the Zambian Research Network (ZAMREN). Maybin was then …

Tshiamo Motshegwa is a researcher, lecturer and postgraduate coordinator in the computer science department at the University of Botswana (UB). His experience with and enthusiasm for human and technical collaborations make him an important contributor to the SADC regional framework for shared HPC and “Big Data.” He is also coordinating a project to develop an HPC Data center for the university.

Tshiamo completed part 2 of a bachelor of science degree (Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics) at UB and won a Botswana sponsorship to attended City University London in the United Kingdom (UK) for a BEng Honours in Computer Systems Engineering (Computer science and Electronic engineering). He then completed a computer science PhD through a City University PhD Scholarship. His PhD thesis focused on …

Nnditshedzeni Eric Maluta was born in the Mafukani village in the rural Mutale region of Limpopo, South Africa. He attended the University of Limpopo (Turfloop Campus) where he graduated with honors with a degree in physics, and completed a master’s degree through the renewable energy (physics) program at the University of Venda. In 2007, Eric was awarded a sponsorship to further his studies at University of Bath in the United Kingdom, and completed a PhD within three years. His research topic was ‘simulation of dye sensitised solar cells.’

Since joining  U-Venda full-time, he has volunteered to support projects that improve the physical sciences curricula in rural, South African secondary schools. He also participated in the Kagiso Trust teachers upgrading projects, South Africa National Science Week, and …

Nkundwe Moses Mwasaga is passionate about high performance  computing (HPC), in both micro and quantum capacity.

“It’s my goal to expose more university students to HPC, and establish benchmarks for computational thinking and technical literacy that could be added to course curricula. I look forward to the TACC workshop and SC15, and to sharing new knowledge with others in Tanzania and the SADC region,” said Mwasaga.

Moses holds a masters degree in engineering (computer intelligent systems and networking), and is pursuing a PhD (with an HPC focus). He began working for the Dar es Salaam Institute of Technology (DIT) in the United Republic of Tanzania in 2004 as a lecturer, founded its masters program of computational science and …

Willie Davison Ganda is the Director for Research Development and Innovation in the Zimbabwe Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education’s Department of Science and Technology Development.

Despite many urgent and competing demands for limited financial resources, Ganda successfully convinced government and industry stakeholders that their investment in and support of advanced cyberinfrastructure would yield long-range benefits for Zimbabwean citizens. He proposed a high performance computing (HPC) initiative that was accepted as an official government program in 2012, and was appointed project director.

Ganda manages the HPC human capacity development program for technical personnel at Zimbabwe’s state universities, and leads an outreach program that builds science diplomacy among centers in the SADC region and around the world. He plans to acquire more …

Kudakwashe Dandajena is the Technical and Operations Manager for the Zimbabwe Center for High Performance Computing (ZCHPC) and is responsible for all the technical and operational activities of the institution. He has worked as a lead technical expert from the start of the Project working alongside its director to develop specifications, liaise with vendors, install systems, and oversee day-to-day operations. He graduated with honors from Midlands State University in Zimbabwe with a bachelor of science degree in computer science (CS) and is currently pursuing a CS masters degree at National University of Science and Technology in Zimbabwe.

I’m passionate about HPC, and committed to developing the technical resources and workforce that can transform socioeconomic conditions in Zimbabwe and the …

Chungu Ngolwe is a systems engineer for Zambia’s research and education network, ZAMREN.

Before joining the ZAMREN team in 2012, he graduated with honors from Greenwich University in the United Kingdom with a baccalaureate degree in Computing. He holds professional certifications from the Global Information Assurance Certification (GIAC-cybersecurity), Cisco and Microsoft, and has participated in multiple ZAMREN workshops. His work responsibilities include the setup and deployment of network services and solutions (including network monitoring, DNS, e-mail and web hosting) for ZAMREN member institutions.

As the project leader for the setup of Eduroam for the Zambian Federation, he facilitated workshops on campus network design, routing, switching and Eduroam. He recently assumed the role of HPC systems administrator, and supports the scientific applications that are run on ZAMREN’s parallel systems.

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Xolisa Jevu graduated with honors from the University of Fort Hare in South Africa with a baccalaureate degree in Computer Science (CS). He’s currently registered in the master’s program and works as a junior lecturer in the CS department where he teaches object-oriented programming with Visual Basic.

As a computing laboratory assistant, Xolisa helps researchers and students use campus technology, and assists with hardware replacement, software installations and network troubleshooting. With a growing GIS program at the university, Xolisa is interested in learning more about industry best practices for data storage, stewardship and cybersecurity.

Since most universities in the Eastern Cape Province are in rural regions they lack faculty or staff who are experienced with HPC.  Xolisa intends to bridge that knowledge …

Brian Maistry is a systems administrator at the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa where he supports the Ranger system, among others. He is responsible for the hardware and software used by the university’s statistics, actuarial, finance and computer science programs, including their contributions to the Square Kilometer Array project. He is familiar with a variety of operating systems, including Centos, Ubuntu, and Windows Server 2008. Additionally, he installs (and provides user support for) math and statistical software, including Matlab, Mathematica and R.

I’m looking forward to the TACC workshop, and SC15 where I can learn about the wide variety of cloud-enabled, and other methods in use around the world to support data-intensive research.  The experience will allow me …