HPC Happenings
XSEDE13 Attendee Poll – Are You Bringing a Spouse or Children to XSEDE13?
Response Deadline – December 9, 2012
XSEDE is excited to be bringing XSEDE13 to San Diego in July. To help with the planning, we have created a poll to gauge interest in activities for attendees' spouses, significant others, and children. Please respond to the poll at
http://go.illinois.edu/poll.
Save the Date - GlobusWORLD Conference
April 16-18, 2013 – Argonne National Laboratory
A call for participation will be issued soon. If you are interested in presenting please contact outreach@globusonline.org. For more information, please visit http://www.globusworld.org/.
HPC Call for Participation
Research & Applns in Global HPC: Call for Book Chapters
To be published by IGI Global
Intent for Proposal Submission Deadline - December 15, 2012
The objective of this book is to present the concepts of supercomputing, explore its technologies and their applications, and develop a broad understanding of issues pertaining to the use of supercomputing in multidisciplinary fields. The book aims to highlight the historical and technical background; architecture; programming systems; storage, visualization, analytics, state of practice in industry, universities and government; and numerous applications ranging from such areas as computational earth and atmospheric sciences to computational medicine. If you are interested in learning more and possibly contributing, please email Richard Segal, Arkansas State University, at rsegall@astate.edu, qzhang@astate.edu.
International Conference in Computational Science - Call for Participation
June 5-7, 2013 – Barcelona, Spain
WTCS 2013 Submission Deadline - December 15, 2012
WEAIB 2013 Submission Deadline - January 15, 2013
This year the International Conference on Computational Science (ICCS 2013) will be held in beautiful Barcelona, Spain, June 5 - June 7, 2013 and two workshops will focus on education: “The Workshop on Teaching Computational Science” (WTCS 2013; http://webs.wofford.edu/shifletab/iccs) and “The Workshop on Educational Approaches for Integrating Bioinformatics into Computer and Life Science” (WEAIB 2013; http://ccli.ist.unomaha.edu/iccs2013). Please let us know if you have any questions. For more information, please visit http://www.iccs-meeting.org/iccs2013/ <http://www.iccs-meeting.org/.
Upcoming Conferences and Workshops.
Towards the 3D Virtual Cell Conference
December 13-14, 2012 – La Jolla, California
Translational biology is faced with cyberinfrastructure challenges related to data accessibility, software development, software reuse and sustainability on scales not seen before. We are challenged to creating new algorithm development and analysis tools that can operate on an increasingly large, diverse, complex and widely distributed body of digital biological data. The University of California San Diego has been awarded a grant for planning a conceptual design for an NSF S2I2 Institute for Translational Systems Biology (ITSB) that emphasizes biological 3-dimensional (3D) structures from molecule to cell and addresses the sustainability challenge. This virtual 3D cell provides the scientific framework to collect and disseminate software associated with all aspects of molecular and cellular biology in a way that can be understood by practicing scientists. The ITSB will become a hub through which diverse practitioners can contribute, gain knowledge and interact. To learn more and to register, please visit http://itsb.ucsd.edu/.
2013 Tapia Celebration of Diversity in Computing Conference
February 7-9, 2013 – Washington, DC
The 2013 Richard Tapia Celebration of Diversity in Computing Conference has issued a call for participation, inviting submissions for panel discussions, student research posters, birds-of-a-feather sessions and workshops. Additionally, applications are now being accepted for the Doctoral Consortium and student scholarships to attend the conference. Confirmed speakers include Vint Cerf (Google VP and ACM President), Armando Fox (UC Berkeley), Anita Jones (University of Virginia), Jeanine Cook (New Mexico State University), Annie Anton (Georgia Tech), and Hakim Weatherspoon, (Cornell University), among others. For more information, please visit the http://tapiaconference.org/2013/.
Emerging Researchers National Conference in STEM
February 28-March 2, 2013 – Washington, DC
The Emerging Researchers National (ERN) Conference in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) is hosted by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), Education and Human Resources Programs (EHR) and the National Science Foundation (NSF) Division of Human Resource Development (HRD), within the Directorate for Education and Human Resources (EHR). The conference is aimed at college and university undergraduate and graduate students who participate in programs funded by the NSF HRD Unit, including underrepresented minorities and persons with disabilities. The objectives of the conference are to help undergraduate and graduate students to enhance their science communication skills and to better understand how to prepare for science careers in a global workforce For more information, please visit http://www.emerging-researchers.org/.
7th International Technology, Education and Development Conference
March 4-6, 2013 – Valencia, Spain
The 7th International Technology, Education and Development Conference is an international forum to present and share your experiences in the fields of Education, Technology and Development. The attendance of more than 600 delegates from more than 70 countries is expected, being an annual meeting point for lecturers, researchers, academics, educational scientists and technologists from all disciplines and cultures. For more information, please visit http://www.iated.org/concrete2/login.php?event_id=15.
Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minority Students
November 13-16, 2013 – Nashville, Tennessee
Now in its 12th year, ABRCMS is the largest, professional conference for biomedical and behavioral students, including mathematics, attracting approximately 3,300 individuals, including 1,700 undergraduate students, 400 graduate students and postdoctoral scientists and 1200 faculty, program directors and administrators. Students come from over 350 U.S. colleges and universities. All are pursuing advanced training in the biomedical and behavioral sciences, including mathematics, and many have conducted independent research. The conference is designed to encourage underrepresented minority students to pursue advanced training in the biomedical and behavioral sciences, including mathematics and provide faculty mentors and advisors with resources for facilitating students’ success. More than 500 representatives from graduate programs at US colleges and universities as well as scientists from government agencies, foundations, and professional scientific societies join ABRCMS in the exhibitors program to share information about graduate school and summer internship opportunities. These representatives present research opportunities, funding sources, and professional networks. For more information, please visit http://www.abrcms.org/page01a.html.
XSEDE Training at a Glance.
Stampede Early User Training - webinar
December 6, 2012 – 9:00am- 4:00pm CST
For more information, please visit https://www.xsede.org/web/xup/course-calendar/-/training/class/76.
Parallel Computing at TACC: Ranger to Stampede Transition
December 11, 2012- 9:00am- 5:00pm EST – Cornell University
For more information, please visit https://www.xsede.org/web/xup/course-calendar/-/training/class/73.
Writing a Successful XSEDE Allocation Proposal - webinar
December 12, 2012 – 2:00pm- 3:00pm EST
For more information, please visit https://www.xsede.org/web/xup/course-calendar/-/training/class/75.
For a complete list of past and future XSEDE training opportunities, please visit https://www.xsede.org/web/xup/course-calendar.
Research Features
TACC Aids Cardiovascular Disease Research With Animation, Computational Efforts
Researchers at the University of Texas at Austin's Institute for Computational and Engineering Sciences (ICES), Texas Advanced Computing Center, and Faculty Innovation Center have developed a 14-minute animation to explain the underlying nature of vulnerable plaques and a potential clinical procedure for treatment with the goal of personalizing diagnostic and therapeutic interventions in patients. "Visualization is absolutely essential--there's no question about it," says ICES professor Thomas Hughes. The animation illustrates how engineering and medical approaches can come together to address an unsolved clinical need, says ICES researcher Shaolie Hossain. The researchers used more than 12 software programs, including magnetic resonance imaging viewing applications and computer-assisted design and animation packages, to develop a program that performs some of the file conversions. To read further, please visit http://www.tacc.utexas.edu/news/press-releases/2012/tacc-aids-cardiovascular-disease-research.
Cambridge Software Improves Quality of Sound for Hearing Aid Users
Cambridge University researchers have developed CAM2, software that improves the quality of sound for hearing aid users. The software dictates the amount of amplification of high-frequency sounds required to restore their audibility. The technique increases the frequency range of sound that individuals with hearing loss are able to detect, improving speech perception, sound localization, and the ability to hear certain musical sounds. "Until recently, hearing aids only provided amplification for frequencies up to four or five kHz, whereas a person with normal hearing can hear for frequencies up to 15 or 20 kHz," says Cambridge professor Brian Moore. However, he says CAM2 extends the fitting range up to 10 kHz. To read further, please visit http://www.enterprise.cam.ac.uk/news/2012/11/cambridge-software-improves-quality-sound-hearing-/.
NASA, European S[ace Agency Use Experimental Interplanetary Internet to Test Robot From International Space Station
Researchers at the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the European Space Agency have developed an experimental version of the interplanetary Internet to control an educational rover from the International Space Station. The researchers used NASA's Disruption Tolerant Networking (DTN) protocol, which could eventually be used to develop Internet-like communications with space vehicles and support habitats or infrastructure on other planets. The DTN architecture enables standardized communications similar to the Internet to function over long distances and through time delays associated with on-orbit or deep space spacecraft or robotic systems. As part of the experiment, space station Expedition 33 commander Sunita Williams used a NASA-developed laptop to remotely drive a small LEGO robot at the European Space Operations Center in Darmstadt, Germany. The research is part of NASA's Space Communication and Navigation Program, which coordinates multiple space communications networks and network support functions to regulate, maintain, and grow NASA's space communications and navigation capabilities in support of the agency's space missions. To read further, please visit http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2012/nov/HQ_12-391_DTN.html.
Educator Curriculum and Information
What Are Your Plans for CSEdWeek?
December 9-15, 2012
Computer Science Education Week (CSEdWeek) is the major annual awareness program of the Computing in the Core Coalition (http://www.computinginthecore.org/). CSEdWeek (http://www.CSEdWeek.org) is a call to action to raise awareness (particularly in the K-12(environment) about the importance of computer science education and its connection to careers in computing and other fields. Join with parents, students, teachers and others who are participating in CSEdWeek activities and events. Getting involved is easy and fun. Be sure to go to www.csedweek.org to get some great ideas and pledge your support and participation.
Student Engagement and Information
Microsoft Sponsors a Hacking Contest--the Coding Kind
Microsoft recently hosted a hackathon for 40 teams of coders to write applications that run on Windows 8-based devices. The program's goal is for the participants to learn to write the applications with the guidance of Microsoft mentors. The hackathon also is geared toward writing apps for Azure, Microsoft's cloud-based platform service, and participants also attended Microsoft's Build 2012 conference for developers. The hackathon's winners take home $2,500 for the best application in three categories. Microsoft mentors are tasked with helping the participants take advantage of Windows 8's new touch-interface features and generating apps that look good. For example, Vesa Vainio, a participant from Finland, is developing Share My Photos, an app that stores photos in Azure for access by Facebook members. Although Facebook supports that capability, Vainio says his app has a twist. "They can easily share photos with friends of their choosing and not give ownership of the photos to Facebook itself," Vainio says. For more information, please visit http://www.networkworld.com/news/2012/103112-microsoft-hacking-contest-263845.html.
NSF’s EAPSI Graduate Fellowship Program Application
Deadline Extended - December 6, 2-12
The EAPSI Program provides U.S. graduate students in science and engineering (U.S. citizens and permanent residents) with an opportunity to spend 8 weeks (10 weeks for Japan) during the summer conducting research at one of the seven host locations in East Asia and Pacific: Australia, China, Japan, Korea, New Zealand, Singapore, and Taiwan. NSF provides EAPSI Fellows with a $5,000 stipend and roundtrip airplane ticket to the host location. Our foreign counterparts provide in-country living expenses and accommodations (arrangements vary by host location). For more information, please read the Program Solicitation, host location-specific Handbooks, and How to Apply Guide available at www.nsf.gov/eapsi.
Image Analysis Postdoctoral Fellow
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory - Req #75328
As part of the Integrated Bioimaging Initiative and in collaboration with Oregon Health Sciences University (OHSU) in Portland OR, we have an immediate opening for a post-doctoral researcher to work on microscopic imaging, image analysis, and visualization methods to integrate image data from breast cancer-related signaling networks in cells at both electron microscopy (EM) and fluorescence microscopy (FM) spatial scales. The broad project goal is to allow architectural analysis of the nanoscale molecular assemblies that regulate information flow in cells while the postdoc will specifically focus on algorithm development to register information from the different scale and modality microscopies, automatically detect and segment signaling assemblies, detect and segment ultrastructural features, and use advanced visualization techniques to represent the analysis data to biologists on the project. In this multi-disciplinary project, the postdoc will work closely with biologists, chemists working on the labeling methods, microscopy experts from academia and industry, and computational scientists on the analysis methods. For more information and to apply, please visit https://lbl.taleo.net/careersection/2/jobdetail.ftl?lang=en&job=75328.
Computational Science Postdoctoral Fellowship
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory - Req #75275
The successful candidate will participate in research activities focused on development and applications of novel algorithms, approaches and software in the area of material informatics. Of particular interest is the development of capabilities 1) enabling enumeration, generation and characterization of defects in crystals, as well as 2) enabling automatic structure analysis and structural descriptor generation for efficient materials screening as well as data mining. The successful candidate will help to integrate the developed software into the Materials Project (http://www.materialsproject.org/), enabling users worldwide to efficiently discover and characterize diverse electronic materials. For more information and to apply, please visit https://lbl.taleo.net/careersection/2/jobdetail.ftl?lang=en&job=75275.
Computational Science Postdoctoral Fellow
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory - Req #75040
The Center for Computational Sciences and Engineering has openings for two postdoctoral researchers to work at the interface between the development of combustion methodology for exascale architectures and computer science research aimed at developing the software stack needed to support exascale computing. For more information and to apply, please visit https://lbl.taleo.net/careersection/2/jobdetail.ftl?lang=en&job=75040.
Molecular & Cell Biologist Postdoctoral Fellow
SCOP/ASTRAL at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory - Req #74849
This position is a postdoctoral research appointment responsible for several computational projects related to the SCOP and ASTRAL databases. The incumbent will help design and build the next generation of SCOP and ASTRAL. These resources provide carefully curated standards that are widely used by biologists to explore remote homologs of proteins of interest, and by computational biologists as a “gold standard” for benchmarking prediction algorithms. SCOP and ASTRAL are a critical resource for such studies: together, they have thousands of citations and tens of thousands of users. For more information and to apply, please visit http://www.linkedin.com/groupAnswers?viewQuestionAndAnswers=&discussionID=190134243&gid=1775643&trk=eml-anet_dig-b_jb-ttl-cn&ut=2eLgQyl6aNnBw1.
Last But Not Least – Computational Science in the News
The Internet Remains a Tangle of Issues
Among the Internet-related policy issues President Barack Obama is likely to face in his second term is congressional polarization over regulations limiting the use of personal information online, statutes for protecting critical infrastructure from cyberattacks, policies to contend with online piracy, and pressure from the technology industry to implement tax code reforms and more visas for foreigners with much sought-after math and science skills. The administration will probably continue its push for freeing up wireless spectrum to fulfill the needs of smartphones and tablets to send a variety of information. President Obama is expected to resume his campaign for the enactment of cybersecurity legislation to protect critical infrastructure, and the primary hurdle is whether the government should be permitted to regulate how private infrastructure operators shield their systems from cyberattacks. Members of Congress also are expected to lobby for several privacy-related bills, one involving updates to the Electronic Communications Privacy Act covering how government authorities can wiretap cell phone and Internet communications. The Internet industry also wants a 1988 law protecting the privacy of movie rentals eased, and the White House could once again find itself in the middle of a battle between the industry and Hollywood over online piracy. To read further, please visit http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2012/11/07/business/industry-reactions-to-election.html.
