Education and Outreach Blog

XSEDE and the SC Education Program – A Myriad of Training Choices

9/9/11 7:17 PM

SC’11 – Seattle Washington- November 12-17, 2011
SC ’11 Education Program – November 12-16, 2011
SC’11 Exhibition Dates – November 14-17, 2011

Saturday, November 12, 2011

PLENARY: Education Program Opening Plenary
Chair:Henry J. Neeman (University of Oklahoma)
Time: 8:30am-10am
Rooms: 611-614
Presenter:Henry Neeman (University of Oklahoma)

This session is the opening plenary, including a welcome, program orientation, and a panel of SC Education Program alumni. Assumed background: basic computer literacy

BIOLOGY: Computational Biology Overview
Chair:Jeff Krause (Shodor Education Foundation)
Time: 10:30am-Noon
Room: 2A
Presenters:Jeff Krause (Shodor), Angela B. Shiflet (Wofford College), George W. Shiflet (Wofford College)

This session introduces the importance of computational thinking to the life sciences. Examples of computationally oriented internships for undergraduates and fundamental ingredients for developing future biological researchers are also discussed.

Participants will see ways in which computation has become essential to sustaining and advancing contemporary biology as well as become its own area. Computational biology approaches underlie the collection, analysis and visualization of biological data, in addition to modeling the function and dynamics of complex biological systems. Examples of computational biology will be drawn from among the rapidly advancing world of biological macromolecules and biomolecular networks. Free tools and software will be demonstrated that can be useful in teaching biological concepts, as well as in teaching the concepts drawn on for biological computing.
Assumed background:basic computer literacy; general biology or equivalent

CHEMISTRY: Basic Molecular Modeling
Chair:Shawn Sendlinger (North Carolina Central University)
Time: 10:30am-Noon
Room: 206
Presenters:Shawn C. Sendlinger (North Carolina Central University), Clyde Metz (College of Charleston), Elisabeth T. Bell-Loncella (University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown)

This session will serve as an introduction to molecular modeling and will discuss reasons why it should be included in the chemistry curriculum. The hands-on portion will introduce participants to the WebMO interface used to construct molecules, perform simple calculations, and view results.

Software: WebMO accounts at Earlham College and/or the National Center for Supercomputing Applications.
Assumed background: basic computer literacy; one course in general chemistry or equivalent

COMPUTATIONAL THINKING: Introduction to Modeling and Simulation as Teaching Tools
Chair:Robert M. Panoff (Shodor)
Time: 10:30am-Noon
Room: 2B
Presenters:Bob Panoff (Shodor), Jennifer Houchins (Shodor), Steven I. Gordon (Ohio Supercomputer Center)

Pre-built simulations are valuable resources for learning. In this session, we will demonstrate a variety of web-based simulations that are widely used in K-16 science and math classrooms. We will model an inquiry-based approach for using these tools to teach computational thinking in K12 thru college.
Assumed background: basic computer literacy

MATHEMATICS: Introduction to Sage as a Tool for Computing
Chair:Daniel D. Warner (Clemson University)
Time: 10:30am-Noon
Room: 201
Presenters:Daniel D. Warner (Clemson University), Neil J. Calkin (Clemson University), Holly Peters Hirst (Appalachian State University)

This session is a hands-on introduction to a recent development in computer tools for mathematics, the Sage Mathematics Computing Environment. Sage is a comprehensive package that addresses mathematical topics ranging from rational arithmetic and elementary algebra to some of the most advanced research topics in Number Theory and Discrete Mathematics. Along with its wide ranging collection of tools, Sage is important because it is open source, free, and accessible with nothing more than a web browser. This introductory session will focus on using Sage as a tool for exploring elementary topics in mathematics and will be accessible to mathematics teachers at all levels. The topics that will be explored will be restricted to precalculus material, and potential pedagogical applications will be highlighted. Be prepared to learn new facts about pi, Fibonacci numbers, and Mandelbrot's set.
Assumed background: basic computer literacy; calculus; basic familiarity with vectors and matrices

PARALLEL: HPC Overview
Chair:Charles Peck (Earlham College)
Time: 10:30am-Noon
Room: 611/612/613/614
Presenters:Charlie Peck (Earlham College), Thomas Murphy (Contra Costa College), Daniel Ernst (Cray Inc.), Henry Neeman (University of Oklahoma)

This session provides a broad overview of High Performance Computing (HPC). Topics include: what is supercomputing?; the fundamental issues of HPC (storage hierarchy, parallelism); hardware primer; introduction to the storage hierarchy; introduction to parallelism via an analogy (multiple people working on a jigsaw puzzle); Moore's Law; the motivation for using HPC.
Assumed background: basic computer literacy

PHYSICS: Examples in Computational Physics Part I - Python-Based Examples
Chair:Rubin H Landau (Oregon State University)
Time: 10:30am-Noon
Room: 204
Presenter:Rubin Landau (Oregon State University)

Although physics faculty is incorporating computers to enhance physics education, computation is often viewed as a black box whose inner workings need not be understood. We open up the black box by providing Computational Physics (CP) curricula materials based on a problem-solving paradigm that can be incorporated into existing physics classes, or used in stand-alone CP classes. These assume a computational science point of view, where understanding of the applied math and CS is also important, and in which a compiled language is used in order for students to get closer to the algorithms. The materials derive from a new eTextbook available on the Web (http://physics.oregonstate.edu/~rubin/Books/eBookWorking/) that includes video-based lectures, Python programs, applets, visualizations and animations.

Part I provides an overview, demonstrates the eTextBook and discusses some basic examples.
Assumed background: basic computer literacy; either 2 years of undergraduate physics or bachelor’s degree in mathematics or equivalent

BIOLOGY: Introduction to Systems and Synthetic Biology
Chair:Herbert Sauro (University of Washington)
Time: 2pm-3pm
Room: 2A
Presenters:Herbert Sauro (University of Washington), Deepak Chandran (University of Washington)

This introductory level session presents an overview of the field of systems biology, exploring some of the online resources in the field that draw on community standards such as the Systems Biology Markup Language. The second half of this session explores computational modeling in systems biology, and introduces concepts of dynamic modeling through hands-on activities.

Dynamic modeling of biomolecular systems provides scientists with quantitative hypotheses. Once an adequate hypothesis (model) is produced, it can be used to anticipate the effects of perturbations to the system resulting from disease or medical intervention. This session introduces JDesigner, Jarnac and Systems Biology Workbench Software tools, which can be used to build, run and analyze biological system models. The Biomodels repository will also be described, together with new advanced design tools such as Tinkercell, can be used as teaching resources.
Assumed background: Computational Biology Overview session or equivalent

CHEMISTRY: Molecular Properties
Chair:Clyde R Metz (College of Charleston)
Time: 2pm-3pm
Room: 206
Presenters:Clyde Metz (College of Charleston), Shawn C. Sendlinger (North Carolina Central University), Elisabeth T. Bell-Loncella (University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown)

This largely hands-on session will demonstrate the use of two free software packages that can be used to draw molecular structures of publication quality, visualize three-dimensional molecular structures, calculate stable molecular structures using molecular mechanics, and predict various molecular properties.
Software: ACD/ChemSketch Freeware, BioRad KnowItAll.
Assumed background: basic computer literacy; at least one course in general chemistry or equivalent

COMPUTATIONAL THINKING: Resources for Computational Science Teaching Materials
Chair:Robert M. Panoff (Shodor)
Time: 2pm-3pm
Room: 2B
Presenters:Bob Panoff (Shodor), Jennifer Houchins (Shodor), Steven I. Gordon (Ohio Supercomputer Center)

There are many sources of models and datasets that can be used to incorporate computational modeling in the science and engineering curriculum. This session will review examples from the National Science Digital Libraries, federal agencies, and other sources covering a range of topics in math, science, and engineering.
Assumed background: basic computer literacy

MATHEMATICS: Exploration in Sage Part I
Chair:Daniel D. Warner (Clemson University)
Time: 2pm-3pm
Room: 201
Presenters:Daniel D. Warner (Clemson University), Holly Peters Hirst (Appalachian State University), Neil J. Calkin (Clemson University)

This workshop will continue the hands-on introduction to the Sage Mathematics Computing Environment. This session will focus on using Sage as a tool for exploring intermediate mathematical topics, particularly topics that could be encountered in Calculus and other undergraduate courses. The presentation will include material on some of the advanced graphics features, such as phase plane portraits and surface plots, as well as standard problems in symbolic differentiation and integration. In addition, the workshop will provide exploratory problems that may well lead the participants to new insights.
Assumed background: Introduction to Sage as a Tool for Computing session or equivalent

PARALLEL: The Storage Hierarchy
Chair:Tom Murphy (Contra Costa College)
Time: 2pm-3pm
Room: 611/612/613/614
Presenters:Thomas Murphy (Contra Costa College), Charlie Peck (Earlham College), Daniel Ernst (Cray Inc.), Henry Neeman (University of Oklahoma)

This session focuses on the implications of a fundamental reality: fast implies expensive implies small, and slow implies cheap implies large. Topics include: registers; cache, RAM, and the relationship between them; cache hits and misses; cache lines; cache mapping strategies (direct, fully associative, set associative); cache conflicts; write-through vs. write-back; locality; tiling; hard disk; virtual memory. A key point: Parallel performance can be hard to predict or achieve without understanding the storage hierarchy.
Prerequisite: HPC Overview session or equivalent
Assumed background: one semester of programming in any of C, C++ or Fortran, recently, one semester of experience with any Unix-like operating system (could be Linux but doesn’t have to be), recently

PHYSICS: Integrating Computation into Undergraduate Physics
Chair:Norman Chonacky (Yale University)
Time: 2pm-3pm
Room: 204
Presenter:Norman Chonacky (Yale University)

The growth of computation in the conduct of scientific research and development places new responsibilities on the undergraduate physics curriculum where most scientists and engineers receive a foundational part of their technical education. This makes it imperative to examine the treatment given to computation by physics departments. Sadly, the evidence is that computation is given short shrift in most institutions. There is a need for including computational modeling as a coequal companion to analytical theory and experiment in the study of physics concepts. This means that it must become an integral part of physics courses in both the service and major threads of the curriculum. We will present an approach aimed at materials designed to integrate computation into traditional physics courses to bring them into alignment with the demands of employment in the contemporary science and engineering workplace. We will also present examples of these materials that are being designed to stimulate computational integration into the second-year modern physics course in both two and four year institutions.
Assumed background: basic computer literacy; either two years of undergraduate physics or a bachelor’s degree in mathematics, or equivalent

BIOLOGY: Synthetic Biology: Tinker Cell
Chair:Deepak Chandran (University of Washington)
Time: 3:30pm-5pm
Room: 2A
Presenter:Deepak Chandran (University of Washington)

Synthetic biology is the rage for biomedical engineering and biologists in molecular genetic biology. This session introduces the disciplinary roots of synthetic biology and provides hands on exercises in the design of biological circuits that can be used to create biologically active agents. TinkerCell meets the needs of active synthetic biologists and can be used to develop an understanding of the circuit like nature of biological systems.
Prerequisite: Introduction to Systems and Synthetic Biology session or equivalent

CHEMISTRY: Chemical Kinetics
Chair:Clyde R Metz (College of Charleston)
Time: 3:30pm-5pm
Room: 206
Presenters:Clyde Metz (College of Charleston), Shawn C. Sendlinger (North Carolina Central University), Elisabeth T. Bell-Loncella (University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown)

A basic review of first-order chemical kinetics will be followed with a hands-on session using Excel (a spreadsheet) and Vensim PLE (a graphical interface differential equation solver or system dynamics software) to study the concentration-time relationship for several kinetics systems.
Software: Vensim PLE, spreadsheet (Excel)
Assumed background: basic computer literacy; at least one course in general chemistry or equivalent

ENGINEERING/COMPUTATIONAL THINKING: Introduction to MATLAB®
Chair:Siddharth Samsi (Ohio Supercomputer Center)
Time: 3:30pm-5pm
Room: 2B
Presenters:Siddharth Samsi (Ohio Supercomputer Center), Steven I. Gordon (Ohio Supercomputer Center), Halil Sezen (Ohio State University)

MATLAB® can be used as an introduction to programming and to modeling principles. We will review the organization of a modeling and simulation course that incorporates MATLAB® and then introduce the basics of the MATLAB® environment. This includes basic programming constructs in MATLAB®, including visualization tools. Participants will work through simple exercises using MATLAB® to familiarize themselves with the MATLAB® environment.
Assumed background: basic computer literacy

MATHEMATICS: Exploration in Sage Part II
Chair:Daniel D. Warner (Clemson University)
Time: 3:30pm-5pm
Room: 201
Presenters:Daniel D. Warner (Clemson University), Holly Peters Hirst (Appalachian State University), Neil J. Calkin (Clemson University)

This workshop will continue the hands-on introduction to the Sage Mathematics Computing Environment. This session will focus on using Sage as a tool for exploring advanced topics related to recent mathematical research. This will include an overview of the advanced programs such as GMP and PARI that are included in the Sage package. The session will also include a presentation on integer relation algorithms and some recent results.
Prerequisite: Exploration in Sage Part I session or equivalent

PARALLEL: Introduction to MPI Point-to-Point Communication
Chair:Tom Murphy (Contra Costa College)
Time: 3:30pm-5pm
Room: 611/612/613/614
Presenters:Thomas Murphy (Contra Costa College), Charlie Peck (Earlham College), Daniel Ernst (Cray Inc.), Henry Neeman (University of Oklahoma)

This session gives a first introduction to distributed parallelism via MPI. Topics include: an analogy for understanding distributed parallelism (desert islands), which covers distributed execution, communication, message passing, independence, privacy, latency vs. bandwidth; parallel strategies (client-server, task parallelism, data parallelism, pipelining); the Message Passing Interface (structure of MPI calls, MPI program structure, Single Program/Multiple Data strategy, hello world, MPI runs, compiling for MPI, rank, indeterminism, MPI data types, tags, communicators.
Prerequisite: HPC Overview session or equivalent.

Assumed background: one semester of programming in any of C, C++ or Fortran, recently, one semester of experience with any Unix-like operating system (could be Linux but doesn't have to be), recently.
PHYSICS: Easy Java Simulations
Chair:David A. Joiner (Kean University)
Time: 3:30pm-5pm
Room: 204
Presenter:David A. Joiner (Kean University)

Easy Java Simulations (EJS) is a rapid development environment for numerical simulations that allows for real time interaction and visualization. While Java-based, it provides a simplified interface for the solution of systems of Ordinary Differential Equations (ODEs) with a variety of built-in solvers, as well as a mechanism for solving other iterative models that are not based on ODEs. Graphical User Interface (GUI) tools are included that support 2-D and 3-D visualization, with direct interaction and manipulation of the model through the GUI. This session will be hands-on and will step the user through the process of creating an EJS model.
Assumed background: basic computer literacy; either two years of undergraduate physics or bachelor’s degree in mathematics, or equivalent

PLENARY: Undergraduate Computational Engineering and Sciences (UCES) Program Finalists
Chair:Chuck Swanson (Krell Institute)
Time: 8:30am-10am
Room: 611/612/613/614
Presenter:Charles Swanson (University of Minnesota)??? Which one – see above

The Undergraduate Computational Engineering and Science (UCES) award program was created to promote and enhance undergraduate education in computational engineering and science (CES). The program encourages development of innovative educational resources and programs, recognizes the achievements of CES undergraduate educators, and serves to disseminate educational material and ideas to the broad scientific and engineering undergraduate community. Awarded annually, UCES is funded by the Department of Energy and administered by the Krell Institute. In this plenary session, the finalists for the 2011 UCES Award will present their work. The winner will be announced at the Education Program Awards Ceremony on Tuesday November 15.

BIOLOGY/MATHEMATICS: Introduction to Computational Statistics using R
Chair:Randall J. Pruim (Calvin College)
Time: 10:30am-Noon
Room: 2B
Presenters:Randall Pruim (Calvin College), Jeff Krause (Shodor)

This session will introduce participants to using statistical approaches in biology, physics, mathematics and engineering. Participants will use R to access data, summarize it numerically and graphically, and combine these skills to perform randomization methods in statistics. Randomization methods (e.g., permutation tests and bootstrap intervals) are becoming increasingly popular as access to sufficient computational power is becoming more widespread. Participants will also be introduced to the discussion in the statistics education community about whether, why, and how to use randomization methods as the foundational concept in introductory computation courses.
Assumed background: basic computer literacy; basic statistics

Sunday, November 13, 2011

COMPUTATIONAL THINKING: Modeling Dynamic Systems Using Vensim Part I
Chair:Steven Gordon (Ohio Supercomputer Center)
Time: 10:30am-Noon
Room: 2A
Presenters: Steven I. Gordon (Ohio Supercomputer Center), Bob Panoff (Shodor), Jennifer Houchins (Shodor)

Systems based modeling is used to demonstrate aggregate change over time. Using Vensim, we will show examples of models illustrating concepts such as equilibrium, exponential growth, interdependent cycles, and feedback. We will investigate the mathematics behind the model using a problem involving population growth.
Prerequisite: Introduction to Modeling and Simulation as Teaching Tools session or equivalent.

ENGINEERING: Computational Modeling of Solids Using the Finite Element Method
Chair:Monir Sharobeam (Richard Stockton College of NJ)
Time: 10:30am-Noon
Room: 204
Presenter:Monir Sharobeam (Richard Stockton College of New Jersey), Siddharth Samsi (Ohio Supercomputer Center), Halil Sezen (Ohio State University)

This session will provide an introduction to the basics of solid mechanics and the stress strain relationships in solids. It will also introduce the finite element method as a computational modeling approach for structural mechanics as well as multiphysics applications that are too complicated to be addressed by analytical methods. The session will introduce the participants to the finite element package: Elmer. Elmer is an open source multi-physical program with powerful solvers for applications in structural mechanics, heat transfer, electromagnetic fields, acoustics and others. Elmer is developed by a group of Finnish universities jointly with the Finnish state computer center. Elmer is available on both Windows and Linux based platforms and works with MPI environments.
Assumed background: basic computer literacy; first year engineering curriculum or equivalent

PARALLEL: Shared Memory Parallel Programming using OpenMP
Chair:Henry J. Neeman (University of Oklahoma)
Time: 10:30am-Noon
Room: 611/612/613/614

Presenters:Charlie Peck (Earlham College), Thomas Murphy (Contra Costa College), Daniel Ernst (Cray Inc.), Henry Neeman (University of Oklahoma)

This session, presented jointly by the Broader Engagement and Education Programs, focuses on multithreaded parallelism. Topics include: the fork/join model; OpenMP compiler directives; hello world; parallel do/for; chunks; private vs. shared data; scheduling (static vs. dynamic vs. guided); synchronization; barriers; critical sections; race conditions explained via the analogy of “The Pen Games;” reductions; how to parallelize a serial code.
Assumed background: one semester of programming in any of C, C++ or Fortran, recently, one semester of experience with any Unix-like operating system (could be Linux but doesn’t have to be), recently.

PHYSICS: Statistical Physics
Chair:Norman Chonacky (Yale University)
Time: 10:30am-Noon
Room: 201
Presenter:Norman Chonacky (Yale University)

The physical properties of many-body systems, such the pressure exerted by collections of molecules in a gas, are related to the collective behavior of the individual atoms whose individual behavior can fairly be described as random. This is vividly manifest by an "idealized" gas. In this system, the interrelations among pressure, volume, and temperature are simply summarized in the Ideal Gas Law, but are directly determined by the random motions of huge numbers individual molecules. Monte Carlo simulations are an excellent vehicle to help students understand the connections between individual randomness and collective order. We will present a variety of simulations implemented in a spectrum of computational tools from a spreadsheet to the C programming language. We will emphasize the opportunity these present for students to explore the emergence of the Maxwell-Boltzmann speed distribution of gas molecules while learning about computational modeling and programming.
Assumed background: basic computer literacy; either 2 years of undergraduate physics or a bachelors degree in mathematics, or equivalent.

LittleFe Buildout #1
Chair: Charles Peck (Earlham College)
Time: 1pm-5pm
Room: South Lobby

LittleFe (http://LittleFe.net) is a reference design for a portable mini-cluster of multiple nodes, costing $2500 in total, whose primary focus is on turnkey classroom demonstrations of and exercises in High Performance Computing (HPC), parallel programming, and Computational and Data-Enabled Science and Engineering (CDESE), and secondarily as a production HPC resource for small institutions not yet able to afford or support a full scale cluster; in fact, LittleFe can be used as a gateway to and development platform for full scale HPC resources.

Starting Sunday afternoon, and every morning and afternoon on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, at the Communities booth on the 4th floor across from the Registration booth, two teams at a time will be building LittleFe units, which they'll then be able to take home with them for use as portable platforms for both teaching at their institutions and outreach to other institutions.

BIOLOGY: R for Biological Sciences
Chair:Randall J. Pruim (Calvin College)
Time: 2pm-3pm
Room: 2B
Presenter:Randall Pruim (Calvin College)

R is a high-level statistical programming language that has become widely used across many disciplines in computational biology. While the statistical foundations of R have made it applicable to many areas of biology, R's extensible nature and thriving open-source community in various biological disciplines have made it an indispensable tool for many computational biologists. Examples in biological sequence analysis, molecular evolution, gene-expression analysis and systems dynamics will be used to demonstrate the flexibility of this tool.
Prerequisite: Introduction to Computational Statistics using R session or equivalent.

CHEMISTRY: CSERD and JCE NSDL: Online Resources for Teaching Chemistry
Chair:Shawn Sendlinger (North Carolina Central University)
Time: 2pm-3pm
Room: 206

Presenters:Shawn C. Sendlinger (North Carolina Central University), Clyde Metz (College of Charleston), Elisabeth T. Bell-Loncella (University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown)

This session will give a brief overview of the Computational Science Education Reference Desk (CSERD), the National Science Digital Library (NSDL), and the Journal of Chemical Education Digital Library (JCE DLib). The hands-on portion will introduce participants to the contents of these libraries and suggest search strategies.
Software: Java-enabled browser.
Assumed background: basic computer literacy; one course in general chemistry or equivalent

COMPUTATIONAL THINKING: Agent-based Modeling Part I
Chair:Robert M. Panoff (Shodor)
Time: 2pm-3pm
Room: 2A
Presenters:Bob Panoff (Shodor), Jennifer Houchins (Shodor), Steven I. Gordon (Ohio Supercomputer Center)

Agent-based modeling is used to model situations in which individual objects follow certain rules. After putting those rules into action, we can generalize the behavior of the situation. Using AgentSheets, we will review several models including the spread of a forest fire and a communicable disease to demonstrate the technique and the impacts of individual agents on model outcomes.
Prerequisite: Introduction to Modeling and Simulation as Teaching Tools session or equivalent.

PARALLEL: Parallel Debugging
Chair: Aaron Weeden (Earlham College)
Time: 2pm-3pm
Room: 611/612/613/614

Presenters:Aaron Weeden (Shodor), Charlie Peck (Earlham College), Thomas Murphy (Contra Costa College), Daniel Ernst (Cray Inc.), Henry Neeman (University of Oklahoma)
Abstract: Debugging serial software can be difficult; debugging parallel software is vastly more so. This session focuses on techniques and tools which help prevent bugs in the first place, and on how to characterize and identify them if they are present.
Prerequisite: Introduction to MPI via Point-to-Point Communication session or equivalent.

PHYSICS: ParaView for Physicists
Chair: David A. Joiner (Kean University)
Time: 2pm-3pm
Room: 201

Presenters:David A. Joiner (Kean University)

ParaView is a powerful tool for visualization of both regular gridded and irregular 3-D data, capable of handling massive datasets and scaling from simple laptops to large parallel systems. This session will give hands-on experience generating data in formats readable by ParaView as well as viewing and filtering of 3-D data including contours, slices, volume rendering, and scalar and vector glyphs. Examples will be drawn from the Physics curriculum.
Assumed background: basic computer literacy; either 2 years of undergraduate physics or a bachelors degree in mathematics, or equivalent

BIOLOGY: Parallel Graph Algorithms with Applications to Metagenomics and Metaproteomics
Chair:Ananth Kalyanaraman (Washington State University)
Time: 3:30pm-5pm
Room: 2B
Presenters:Ananth Kalyanaraman (Washington State University)

Biological data, both naturally derived and synthetically generated, generally suit graph representations well. Among other uses, graph-based representations can be used to reveal networks within data that are tied together by shared characteristics such as homology or function. Consequently, clustering formulations are prevalent in a number of biological applications, including that of determining protein-protein interactions and discovering protein families from metagenomics data. Performing these operations at a large-scale, however, still remains technically challenging.

In this session, we will: (i) formulate metagenomics protein family characterization as a graph clustering problem; (ii) describe an efficient graph clustering algorithm called pClust; (iii) conduct hands-on experiments to cluster several real world data sets and visualize the results. The primary intended outcome is to help undergraduate instructors identify lesson plans suitable for their majors (Computer Science/Mathematics/Biology), and thereby facilitate integration of these cutting-edge research advances into classrooms.
Assumed background: (i) high school mathematics; (ii) basic genomics background (Molecular Biology 101)
Suggested background: (i) an interest in computational biology and/or combinatorial problem solving; (ii) (optional) introductory knowledge of any programming language and basic Unix/Mac command line usage

COMPUTATIONAL THINKING: Agent-based Modeling Part II
Chair:Jennifer K Houchins (Shodor)
Time: 3:30pm-5pm
Room: 2A
Presenters:Jennifer Houchins (Shodor), Bob Panoff (Shodor), Steven I. Gordon (Ohio Supercomputer Center)

In this session, participants will build an agent-based model from scratch, learning how to define the environment, agents, and agent behavior. Variations in the rules will be used to illustrate how agent-based models can mimic the behavior of natural systems.
Prerequisite: Agent-based Modeling Part I session or equivalent.

ENGINEERING: Computational Modeling using Elmer and Gmsh
Chair:Monir Sharobeam (Richard Stockton College of NJ)
Time: 3:30pm-5pm
Room: 204
Presenters:Monir Sharobeam (Richard Stockton College of New Jersey), Siddharth Samsi (Ohio Supercomputer Center), Halil Sezen (Ohio State University)

The session will include hands-on applications that will familiarize the participants with the finite element package, Elmer. The applications include a cantilever beam and hip joint replacement. The session will also introduce the participants to the open source 3D finite element grid generator, Gmsh, which will be used to develop the geometric models for Elmer.
Prerequisite: Computational Modeling of Solids Using the Finite Element Method session or equivalent.

MATHEMATICS: Exploration in Sage Part III
Chair:Daniel D. Warner (Clemson University)
Time: 3:30pm-5pm
Room: 206
Presenters:Daniel D. Warner (Clemson University), Holly Peters Hirst (Appalachian State University), Neil J. Calkin (Clemson University)

This session will provide participants with an accelerated introduction to the Sage Mathematics Computing Environment, incorporating components from Parts I and II.
Prerequisite: "Exploration in Sage Part II" session or equivalent.

PARALLEL: MPI Collective Communication
Chair:Tom Murphy (Contra Costa College)
Time: 3:30pm-5pm
Room: 611/612/613/614
Presenters:Thomas Murphy (Contra Costa College), Charlie Peck (Earlham College), Daniel Ernst (Cray Inc.), Henry Neeman (University of Oklahoma)

This sessions provides a deeper view of distributed parallelism. Topics include: point-to-point vs collective; broadcast; reduction; gather/scatter.
Prerequisite: Introduction to MPI Point-to-Point Communication session or equivalent.

PHYSICS: Parallel and High Performance Computing with Mathematica Part I
Chair:Richard G. Gass (University of Cincinnati)
Time: 3:30pm-5pm
Room: 201
Presenters:Richard Gass (University of Cincinnati)

This will be a hands-on introduction to parallel computing and high performance computing with Mathematica. We will focus on problems of interest in physics that are accessible to undergraduates. No previous experience with Mathematica or parallel computing is necessary, although having worked through the tutorial "The First Five Minutes with Mathematica" would be helpful. Just launch Mathematica on the laptop and it will come up.
Assumed background: basic computer literacy; either 2 years of undergraduate physics or a bachelors degree in mathematics, or equivalent

Monday, November 14, 2011

LittleFe Buildout #2
Chair:Tom Murphy (Contra Costa College)
Time: 8:30am-12:30
Room: South Lobby

Broader Engagement/Education Joint Plenary Session
Time: 9am-10am
Room: 611/612/613/614

BIOLOGY: Neuronal Systems, Modeling in SNNAP
Chair:James Watrous (St Joseph's University)
Time: 10:30am-Noon
Room: 2B
Presenters:James Watrous (St. Joseph's University)

This session will introduce users to SNNAP (Simulator for Neural Networks and Action Potentials). The Hodgkin-Huxley model of neural activity will be demonstrated, and simple simulations of Na and K channel blocks will be shown. The construction of neural networks will be shown along with the role of both chemical and electrical synapses and their effect on network behavior. Finally, the use of small-world networks to investigate circadian rhythms and epileptic seizures will be demonstrated. SNNAP was developed at The University of Texas Medical School at Houston in the department of Neurobiology and Anatomy and is freely available (http://nba.uth.tmc.edu/snnap/).
Prerequisite: Computational Biology Overview session or equivalent.

COMPUTATIONAL THINKING: Modeling Dynamic Systems Using Vensim Part II
Chair: Robert M. Panoff (Shodor)
Time: 10:30am-Noon
Room: 201
Presenters:Bob Panoff (Shodor), Jennifer Houchins (Shodor), Steven I. Gordon (Ohio Supercomputer Center)

This session will show participants how to apply various analysis tools, modular model building, and scenario tools to build and analyze more sophisticated models. We will also review several techniques for sharing model components among students and as Java applets.
Prerequisite: Modeling Dynamic Systems Using Vensim Part I session or equivalent.

ENGINEERING: Structural Engineering Modeling and Applications using MATLAB® Part I
Chair:Halil Sezen (Ohio State University)
Time: 10:30am-Noon
Room: 2A
Presenters:Halil Sezen (Ohio State University), Monir Sharobeam (Richard Stockton College of New Jersey)

This session will introduce structural engineering examples using MATLAB®. The examples will be on the analysis of beam, truss bridge and frame structures. At the beginning of the session, there will be a brief introduction and overview of structural modeling and analysis methods, and capabilities of MATLAB®. Attendees will have hands on experience in solving the problems. The MATLAB® scripts of the example problems will be provided to the attendees. Most attendees with basic programming experience and mechanics knowledge should be able to follow the MATLAB® solutions during the session.
Prerequisite: Introduction to MATLAB® session or equivalent

MATHEMATICS: Using Sage as a Tool in Undergraduate Mathematics Modeling Classes Part I
Chair: Daniel D. Warner (Clemson University)
Time: 10:30am-Noon
Room: 206
Presenters:Daniel D. Warner (Clemson University), Holly Peters Hirst (Appalachian State University), Neil J. Calkin (Clemson University)

This session will examine using Sage software tools to attack algebraic and empirical modeling problems from the physical, biological, and management sciences. Participants will work through problems from a typical junior-level modeling course, including applications using calculus, differential equations, linear algebra, and statistics. This first session of the two part sequence will be run as "guided hands-on" so that participants less familiar with the application problem or with Sage can become comfortable with the software and with the use of the software in a modeling situation.

PARALLEL: Parallel Paradigms and Decompositions
Chair: Charles Peck (Earlham College)
Time: 10:30am-Noon
Room: 611/612/613/614
Presenters:Charlie Peck (Earlham College), Thomas Murphy (Contra Costa College), Daniel Ernst (Cray Inc.), Henry Neeman (University of Oklahoma), Daniel Ernst (Cray Inc.)

This session focuses on various kinds of parallelism, motivated by example application types. Topics include: Monte Carlo simulation to illustrate client-server (the concept of embarrassingly parallel or loosely coupled computing, Monte Carlo methods in lay terms, high energy physics as a motivating example, parallelization of Monte Carlo); N-body methods to illustrate task parallelism (N-body problems, 1-, 2- and 3-body problems, big-O notation for non-computer scientists, spatial vs. temporal complexity, force calculations, parallelizing force calculations, data parallelism vs. task parallelism, reductions, collective communications); transport problems to illustrate data parallelism (Riemann sums, mesh discretizations, finite difference method, Navier-Stokes equation, ghost boundary zones, data decomposition, Cartesian geometries, use of send/receive buffers).
Prerequisite: MPI Collective Communication session or equivalent.

PHYSICS: Examples in Computational Physics Part II
Chair& Presenter: Rubin H Landau (Oregon State University
Time: 10:30am-Noon
Room: 204

Part II covers examples that go beyond the more basic computational skills and discussion of the eTextBook given in Part I, and spends more time having the participants run the Python (or Java) programs. Depending upon participants' interests, the topics may well include nonlinear dynamics, numerical solutions of partial differential equations, tools for analyses (discrete Fourier transform, wavelets), fluid dynamics and visualizations. These materials too derive from a new eTextbook available on the Web (http://physics.oregonstate.edu/~rubin/Books/eBookWorking/) that includes video-based lectures, Python programs, applets, visualizations and animations.
Prerequisite: Python-Based Computational Physics Examples Part I session or equivalent.

Student Programming Contest
Chair:Jamie Schwettmann (i11 Industries)
Time: 10:30am-5pm
Room: 602/603
Presenters:Jamie Schwettmann (i11 Industries)

The SC11 Education Program Student Programming Contest is a competitive programming event at which student contestants can test their ability to solve a series of Computational Science and Engineering problems. Each problem has the potential to come from any of the major scientific and engineering disciplines and is almost guaranteed to require some level of programming. This contest provides an excellent experience for students hoping to enter the fields of High Performance and Scientific Computing while being in the midst of the largest annual conference in these fields.

LittleFe Buildout #3
Chair:Charles Peck (Earlham College)
Time: 1pm-5pm
Room: South Lobb

BIOLOGY: Focus Group on Modeling in the Biology Classroom using Infectious Disease
Chair:Diglio Simoni (RTI International)
Time: 2pm-3pm
Room: 2A
Presenters:Diglio Simoni (RTI International)

RTI International (RTI) in North Carolina has been developing large scale models of infectious disease as part of ongoing projects with various academic and public health organizations. Presently RTI is trying to extend the impacts of these efforts by developing educational materials that can be used to help educate undergraduate and pre-college students about the use of computational modeling of infectious disease in research and public health policy decision making. Over the course of the summer, RTI and Shodor have conducted focus groups with faculty, educators and computing resource managers to solicit input about practical high-impact ways to bring modeling to the Biology classroom. This session represents the final focus group, in which findings from previous focus groups will be shared, and input from the academic community will be collected for use in guiding the development of instructional materials.

CHEMISTRY: Virtual Lab, Visualization
Chair:Elisabeth Bell-Loncella (University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown)
Time: 2pm-3pm
Room: 201
Presenters:Elisabeth T. Bell-Loncella (University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown), Shawn C. Sendlinger (North Carolina Central University), Clyde Metz (College of Charleston)

Participants will gain hands-on experience using freely available Virtual Lab software to perform an acid-base titration and will also explore several websites that house structural information for chemical compounds.

Software: Java-enabled browser.
Assumed background: basic computer literacy; at least one course in general chemistry or equivalent
Date: Monday, November 14th
COMPUTATIONAL THINKING: Stimulating a Parallel Perspective
Chair: Robert M. Panoff (Shodor)
Time: 2pm-3pm
Room: 2A
Presenters:Bob Panoff (Shodor), Jennifer Houchins (Shodor), Steven I. Gordon (Ohio Supercomputer Center)
Abstract: This session will engage participants in parallel thinking exercises necessary to use multi-core computers and many-core high performance computing systems. Through computational explorations participants will explore domain and function parallel strategies to identify multiple paths to solutions of problems that scale with workload, complexity, and/or size.
Prerequisite: Introduction to Modeling and Simulation as Teaching Tools session or equivalent.

MATHEMATICS: Using Sage as a Tool in Undergraduate Mathematics Modeling Classes Part II
Chair:Daniel D. Warner (Clemson University)
Time: 2pm-3pm
Room: 206
Presenters:Daniel D. Warner (Clemson University), Holly Peters Hirst (Appalachian State University), Neil J. Calkin (Clemson University)

This second session of this two part sequence will continue with modeling problem exploration using Sage. Time and audience interest permitting, this session will be more self-paced, allowing participants to choose from a set of problems to explore.
Prerequisite: Using Sage as a Tool in Undergraduate Mathematics Modeling Classes Part I session or equivalent.

PARALLEL: Bootable Cluster CD
Chair:Skylar Thompson (University of Washington)
Time: 2pm-3pm
Room: 611/612/613/614
Presenters:Skylar Thompson (University of Washington), Charlie Peck (Earlham College), Thomas Murphy (Contra Costa College), Daniel Ernst (Cray Inc.), Henry Neeman (University of Oklahoma)

The Bootable Cluster CD (BCCD) is a software platform designed to allow Computational and Data Enabled Science & Engineering (CDESE) and High Performance Computing (HPC) instruction to concentrate on education and not on the requisite computing infrastructure. Originally developed by Paul Gray at the University of Northern Iowa, the BCCD continues to be developed by those close to CDESE and HPC education. The BCCD is an open-source Knoppix-based live CD that provides many of the tools for teaching CDESE and HPC (e.g., GNU compiler suite, Intel compiler, multiple MPI implementations, CUDA, Java) that can be run on either a single system or on a network of computers that are automatically configured using custom networking tools to form an ad hoc temporary cluster.
Prerequisite: Introduction to MPI via Point-to-Point Communication session or equivalent.

PHYSICS: Embarrassingly Parallel Physics Examples
Chair:David A. Joiner (Kean University)
Time: 2pm-3pm
Room: 204
Presenter:David A. Joiner (Kean University)

Embarrassingly Parallel computing refers to problems that require little to no effort to create a scalable parallel implementation. Classic examples of this include both parameter space studies and Monte Carlo integration, which find wide application in a variety of Physics problems. Participants will take away example simulations that allow for the parallel solution and visualization of parameter space studies in 2-D and for parallel Monte Carlo integration.
Assumed background: basic computer literacy; either 2 years of undergraduate physics or a bachelor’s degree in mathematics, or equivalent

BIOLOGY: Dynamic Biochemical and Spatial Models: Virtual Cell
Chair:Raquell Holmes (University of Connecticut Health Center)
Time: 3:30pm-5pm
Room: 2B
Presenters:Raquell M. Holmes (University of Connecticut Health Center)

The Virtual Cell is designed for experimental cell biologists to theoretical biophysicists studying dynamical cellular systems. The biological and mathematical models can range from simple biochemical reactions to complex signaling networks used to evaluate hypotheses, to interpret experimental data, or to probe the predicted behavior of complex, highly non-linear systems. Users build models that specify the physiology of the biological system, including compartmental topology and geometry, molecular characteristics, and relevant interaction parameters. Mathematics-savvy users can bypass the schematic interface to specify a mathematical description of the model. Models can be created as continuous or stochastic numerical models with solvers as explicit as Euler to fully-implicit spatial solvers. Participants will be introduced to creating Ordinary Differential Equation (ODE), Stochastic and Partial Differential Equation (PDE) models within the Virtual Cell, as well as accessing pre-existing models from publicly available databases.
Prerequisite: Introduction to Systems and Synthetic Biology session or equivalent.

CHEMISTRY: Advanced Molecular Modeling Part I
Chair:Shawn Sendlinger (North Carolina Central University)
Time: 3:30pm-5pm
Room: 201
Presenters:Shawn C. Sendlinger (North Carolina Central University), Clyde Metz (College of Charleston), Elisabeth T. Bell-Loncella (University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown)

This session assumes participants have attended a Basic Molecular Modeling session or have experience using WebMO. We will do coordinate scans (changing one parameter while the energy is calculated), spectroscopic (UV-Vis and Infrared), and thermochemical calculations.
Software: WebMO accounts at Earlham College and/or the National Center for Supercomputing Applications.
Prerequisite: Basic Molecular Modeling session or equivalent

ENGINEERING: Structural Engineering Modeling and Applications using MATLAB® Part II
Chair:Halil Sezen (Ohio State University)
Time: 3:30pm-5pm
Room: 2A
Presenters:Halil Sezen (Ohio State University), Monir Sharobeam (Richard Stockton College of New Jersey)

This session will build on the examples presented in Part I to explore and use more advanced features of MATLAB®. Four or more MATLAB® examples will be presented in two sessions. The examples in this session will be slightly more advanced than the introductory examples in Part I.
Prerequisite: Structural Engineering Modeling and Applications using MATLAB® Part I session or equivalent

PARALLEL: Introduction to Accelerators and GPGPU
Chair:Daniel J. Ernst (Cray Inc.)
Time: 3:30pm-5pm
Room: 611/612/613/614
Presenters:Daniel Ernst (Cray Inc.), Charlie Peck (Earlham College), Thomas Murphy (Contra Costa College), Henry Neeman (University of Oklahoma)

This session provides an introduction to the use of specialized hardware ("accelerators") to improve the performance of applications, with particular focus placed on General-Purpose computing on Graphics Processing Units (GPGPU). Topics covered will include: overview of some available accelerators; advantages and disadvantages of using accelerators; interfacing accelerators and the PCIe bottleneck; accelerator programming models, languages, tools, and libraries (including CUDA, OpenCL, cuBLAS, etc.). Includes application case studies of accelerator use.
Prerequisite: Shared Memory Parallel Programming using OpenMP session or equivalent.

PHYSICS: Parallel and High Performance Computing with Mathematica Part II - Applications
Chair:Richard G. Gass (University of Cincinnati)
Time: 3:30pm-5pm
Room: 204
Presenters:Richard Gass (University of Cincinnati)

A continuation of Part I, with an emphasis on physical applications. We will also discuss using Mathematica to generate C code and dynamic libraries and GPU programming using Mathematica. This will be a hands-on session.
Prerequisite: Parallel and High Performance Computing with Mathematica Part I session or equivalent.

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

LittleFe Buildout #4
Chair:Tom Murphy (Contra Costa College)
Time: 8:30am-12:30
Room: South Lobby

PLENARY: Awards and Wrapup
Chair:Henry J. Neeman (University of Oklahoma)
Time: 10:30am-Noon
Room: 2A/2B
Presenters:Henry Neeman (University of Oklahoma
This is the final plenary session of the SC11 Education Program.

LittleFe Buildout #5
Chair:Charles Peck (Earlham College)
Time: 1pm-5pm
Room: South Lobby

CHEMISTRY: If It's Free, It's for Me
Chair:Clyde R Metz (College of Charleston)
Time: 2pm-3pm
Room: 206
Presenters:Clyde Metz (College of Charleston), Shawn C. Sendlinger (North Carolina Central University), Elisabeth T. Bell-Loncella (University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown)

Several freely available molecular modeling software programs will be demonstrated that allow access to the techniques for those on a budget.
Software: Various free packages.
Assumed background: basic computer literacy; at least one course in general chemistry or equivalent

PARALLEL: CUDA Programming Part I
Chair:Daniel J. Ernst (Cray Inc.)
Time: 2pm-3pm
Room: 2A/2B
Presenters:Daniel Ernst (Cray Inc.), Charlie Peck (Earlham College), Thomas Murphy (Contra Costa College), Henry Neeman (University of Oklahoma)

Introduction to NVIDIA's CUDA, a platform for using Graphics Processing Units (GPUs) as powerful parallel accelerators for general purpose applications. Topics include: an introduction to GPU architectures and programming models (Thread/Block/Grid/Kernel concepts); the basics of getting data to and from a GPU using the CUDA API; hands-on experience with first CUDA Kernels.
Prerequisite: Introduction to Accelerators and GPGPU session or equivalent

Paving the way to Petascale Computing in the Undergraduate Classroom
Chair:Jennifer K Houchins (Shodor)
Time: 2pm-3pm
Room: 204
Presenters:Jennifer Houchins (Shodor), Jeff Krause (Shodor), Bob Panoff (Shodor)

The Blue Waters Undergraduate Petascale Education Program, a collaborative effort of the NCSA Blue Waters project and the National Computational Science Institute, recognizes the need for new approaches within the undergraduate classroom in order to promote interest and understanding in petascale computing and its applications. To address this need, the program has been supporting the development of undergraduate curriculum modules that are designed to prepare current and future generations of students with the computational thinking skills, knowledge and commitment to advance scientific computing through the use of high performance computing resources and environments. This session will provide an overview of these efforts and the materials currently available for use in the undergraduate classroom, as well as of materials being developed and possibilities for collaboration.

PHYSICS: GPU Programming in Mathematica
Chair:Richard G. Gass (University of Cincinnati)
Time: 2pm-3pm
Room: 201
Presenters:Richard Gass (University of Cincinnati)

Mathematica 8 makes GPU programming much easier since it frees the user from worrying about many of the details of moving code from the CPU to the GPU. We will look at an example of doing computation quantum mechanics on a GPU. No prior GPU programming experience is necessary.
Prerequisite: Parallel and High Performance Computing using Mathematica II - Applications session or equivalent.

CHEMISTRY: Advanced Molecular Modeling Part II
Chair: Shawn Sendlinger (North Carolina Central University)
Time: 3:30pm-5pm
Room: 206
Presenters:Shawn C. Sendlinger (North Carolina Central University), Clyde Metz (College of Charleston), Elisabeth T. Bell-Loncella (University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown)

A continuation of the previous session, with additional hands-on time and assistance.

Software: WebMO accounts at Earlham College and/or the National Center for Supercomputing Applications.
Prerequisite: Advanced Molecular Modeling Part I session or equivalent

Discussing Computation in Undergraduate STEM Around a Cracker Barrel
Chair:Norman Chonacky (Yale University)
Time: 3:30pm-5pm
Room: 203

The growth of computation use in scientific research and development places new responsibilities on undergraduate STEM curricula. In particular, physics is where most scientists and engineers receive a foundational part of their technical education. A Partnership for Integration of Computation into Undergraduate Physics (PICUP) is engaged in research on and development of solutions to the question: How can physics best serve the computational needs of all STEM disciplines? Throughout the SC11 Education Program, various members of the PICUP have referred to some computational materials they are developing as exemplary solutions. The research piece of our work depends on getting input from STEM instructors concerning their views on this issue. In this vein we will hold an informal "cracker barrel" roundtable discussion -- an occasion for you to speak to the PICUP.

ENGINEERING: Introduction to Parallel MATLAB®
Chair:Siddharth Samsi (Ohio Supercomputer Center)
Time: 3:30pm-5pm
Room: 201
Presenters:Siddharth Samsi (Ohio Supercomputer Center), Steven I. Gordon (Ohio Supercomputer Center), Halil Sezen (Ohio State University)

This course will introduce participants to the MATLAB® Parallel Computing Toolbox[TM] (PCT) and the MATLAB® Distributed Computing Server[TM] (MDCS). Participants will be introduced to concepts of task and data parallel programming. The course will specifically cover parallel programming constructs offered by the PCT including parallel for-loops, distributed arrays and message passing. Example code will be presented and made available to participants for modification and/or incorporation into their own applications. Participants will also have the opportunity to work on sample problems to reinforce the concepts of task parallel and data parallel programming with MATLAB®.
Prerequisite: Introduction to MATLAB® session or equivalent

MATHEMATICS: Randomization using SPRNG
Chair:Michael V. Mascagni (Florida State University)
Time: 3:30pm-5pm
Room: 204

Presenters:Michael Mascagni (Florida State University)

This session will provide participants with an opportunity to acquaint themselves with the Scalable Parallel Random Number Generators Library (SPRNG) as it can be used to investigate computational stochastic (Monte Carlo) applications. One of the indispensable and important ingredients for reliable and statistically sound calculations is a good source of pseudorandom numbers. The goal of the SPRNG project is to develop, implement, and test a scalable package for parallel pseudorandom number generation that will be easy to use on a variety of architectures, especially in large-scale parallel Monte Carlo applications. There will be material that allows students to "play with" and visualize certain pseudorandom number generators, and there will also be some examples of simple Monte Carlo computations that use SPRNG. Random number generation is based on simple recurrences; however, if improperly handled, these simple recurrences can produce very nonrandom output that can harm Monte Carlo results.

Open Lab in Multiple Disciplines
Time: 3:30pm-5pm
Room: 211

This session will provide participants with an opportunity to explore the ideas from sessions in several of the breakout tracks. Instructors will be available to provide insight into using various tools and leveraging them to approach relevant concepts in the classroom.

PARALLEL: CUDA Programming Part II
Chair:Daniel J. Ernst (Cray Inc.)
Time: 3:30pm-5pm
Room: 2A/2B
Presenters:Daniel Ernst (Cray Inc.), Charlie Peck (Earlham College), Thomas Murphy (Contra Costa College), Henry Neeman (University of Oklahoma)
Abstract: Building on CUDA Programming Part I, this session focuses on performance considerations in CUDA programs. Topics include: organizing data into effective block arrangements (matrix multiplication); basic performance tuning; more in-depth GPU architecture features such as block-shared memory; hands-on examples of using fast memories to increase performance (tiled matrix multiplication and n-body); an overview of other performance factors to consider in optimization.
Prerequisite: CUDA Programming Part I session or equivalent.

Date: Wednesday, November 16th
LittleFe Buildout #6
Chair: Tom Murphy (Contra Costa College)
Time: 8:30am-12:30
Room: South Lobby
Event Types: Communities; Education

Abstract: LittleFe (http://LittleFe.net) is a reference design for a portable mini-cluster of multiple nodes, costing $2500 in total, whose primary focus is on turnkey classroom demonstrations of and exercises in High Performance Computing (HPC), parallel programming, and Computational and Data-Enabled Science and Engineering (CDESE), and secondarily as a production HPC resource for small institutions not yet able to afford or support a full scale cluster; in fact, LittleFe can be used as a gateway to and development platform for full scale HPC resources.

Starting Sunday afternoon, and every morning and afternoon on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, at the Communities booth on the 4th floor across from the Registration booth, two teams at a time will be building LittleFe units, which they'll then be able to take home with them for use as portable platforms for both teaching at their institutions and outreach to other institutions.

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

LittleFe Buildout #7
Chair:Charles Peck (Earlham College)
Time: 1pm-5pm
Room: South Lobby

By Ange Diane Mason

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