HPC Happenings

ECSITE’13: EarthCube Summer Institute for Technology Exploration 2013
August 12-16, 2013 – La Jolla, California

Funded by the National Science Foundation’s Geoinformatics program and the EarthCube program, ECSITE’13 builds upon eight years of the Cyberinfrastructure Summer Institute for Geoscientists, from 2004-2011 (see Previous Summer Institutes). ECSITE’13 will provide an introduction to data science concepts and topics, while also covering topics in computational science. For a list of topics to be covered, please visit http://www.geongrid.org/index.php/education/summer_institute/. .

Invited speakers announced for Extreme Scaling Workshop - Heterogeneous Computing
August 15-16, 2013 – Boulder, Colorado

Joe Curley from Intel and Steven Parker from NVIDIA are the invited speakers at this year’s Extreme Scaling Workshop. With years of experience as industry leaders in heterogeneous computing, both speakers will be discussing their understandings of technology trends and views for the future of this type of HPC. The NSF-funded Blue Waters and eXtreme Science and Engineering Discovery Environment (XSEDE) projects are hosting the seventh in a series of Extreme Scaling workshops Aug. 15-16, 2013 in Boulder, Colorado. The annual workshop will address large scale heterogeneous computing through a series of talks and discussions for sharing experiences and successes making use of the new types resources of GPUs and many-core processors. A full workshop agenda is available online at https://www.xsede.org/web/xscale/agenda.

NSF Reports Computing and Networking Capacity Increases at Academic Research Institutions
NCES InfoBrief

Academic research institutions have experienced a significant increase in cyberinfrastructure resources since 2005, according to a new report from the National Science Foundation. In fiscal year 2011, 59 percent of academic institutions reported bandwidth of at least 1 Gbps, up from 21 percent in fiscal year 2005, the report says. The percentage with network connections of 10 Gbps or greater rose to 25 percent from 2 percent. Doctorate-granting institutions accounted for 43 percent of institutions with bandwidth of at least 2.5 Gbps in 2011, versus 4 percent of non-doctorate-granting institutions. Forty-seven percent of institutions had dark fiber to an external network in 2011, up from 29 percent in 2005, and the percentage with dark fiber between their own buildings rose to 90 percent from 86 percent. In addition, 192 of the 539 surveyed institutions owned centrally administered high-performance computing (HPC) resources of 1 teraflop or faster in 2011. To read further, please visit http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/infbrief/nsf13329/.

In the News

TACC Appoints New Members to Strategic Advisory Board

The Texas Advanced Computing Center (TACC) today announced the appointment of two new members and one former member to the TACC Strategic Advisory Board, formerly called the TACC Board of Visitors. Joining the Board for the first time are Victoria Stodden, assistant professor of Statistics at Columbia University, and Alex Szalay, Alumni Centennial Professor of Astronomy at The Johns Hopkins University and professor in the Department of Computer Science. Re-joining the Board for a second term is Dan Reed, vice president for Research and Economic Development and University Chair in Computational Science and Bioinformatics at the University of Iowa, who served on TACC's Board from 2009 to 2011. To read further, please visit http://www.tacc.utexas.edu/news/press-releases/2013/tacc-strategic-advisory-board.

HPC Conference Call for Participation

CISP-BMEI 2013  - Call for Participation
December 16-18, 2013 - Hangzhou, China
Submission Deadline – August 30, 2013 [Submitting to IEEE Xplore/ISI/Ei]

The 2013 6th International Congress on Image and Signal Processing (CISP 2013) and the 2013 6th International Conference on BioMedical Engineering and Informatics (BMEI 2013) will be jointly held in Hangzhou, China. CISP-BMEI 2013 is a premier international forum for scientists and researchers to present the state-of-the-art of multimedia, signal processing, biomedical engineering and informatics and to discuss future research challenges. Co-locating two conferences we aim to promote collaboration among multiple areas, especially the interactions of engineering, computing, and medicine. To promote international participation of researchers from outside the country/region where the conference is held (i.e., China’s mainland), researchers outside of China’s mainland are encouraged to propose invited sessions. For more information, please visit http://cispbmei2013.hznu.edu.cn/.

ACM Learning @ Scale Conference - Call for Papers and Participation
March 4-5, 2014 - Atlanta, Georgia

The first ACM Conference on Learning at Scale, which will be held immediately preceding SIGCSE '14, is intended to promote scientific exchange of interdisciplinary research at the intersection of the learning sciences and computer science. Inspired by the emergence of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) and the accompanying huge shift in thinking about education, this conference was created by ACM as a new scholarly venue and key focal point for the review and presentation of the highest quality research on how learning and teaching can change and improve when done at scale. For more information on the call for participation, please visit http://learningatscale.acm.org/.

 

Upcoming Conferences and Workshops

Extreme Scaling Workshop 2013 - Heterogeneous Computing, hosted by Blue Waters and XSEDE
August 15-16, 2013 – Boulder, Colorado

Registration is now open for Extreme Scaling Workshop 2013; the annual workshop will address large scale heterogeneous computing through a series of talks and discussions for sharing experiences and successes making use of the new types resources of GPUs and many-core processors. The NSF-funded Blue Waters and eXtreme Science and Engineering Discovery Environment (XSEDE) projects are hosting the seventh in a series of Extreme Scaling workshops. Systems such as Blue Waters, Stampede, and Titan take a major step from modest scale, heterogeneous test beds and prototypes to world-class, extreme-scale heterogeneous computing systems. The workshop is set up to provide a sufficient period of time for science and engineering teams to gain understanding on utilizing these systems to advance their applications while still having time to exchange and learn best practices. A full workshop agenda is available online at https://www.xsede.org/web/xscale/agenda. 

XSEDE HPC Workshop Series: MPI (On Stampede)
September 4-5, 2013 – Austin, Texas plus satellite locations

These workshops are very hands-on, and use the foremost available platforms for their subject matter.  They are a continuation of the previously oversubscribed XSEDE remote workshops and an effort to reduce the backlog of demand while maintaining the quality. The updated schedule for the remainder of the series will be sent around soon. Address any questions regarding course content to John Urbanic (urbanic@psc.edu) and questions regarding registration to Tom Maiden (tmaiden@psc.edu).

2013 SACNAS National Conference
October 3–6, 2013 - San Antonio, Texas

SACNAS is a way for you to expose your students to incredible resources and the validating and inspiring environment of SACNAS where they have the unique opportunity to engage with science, culture, and community. The SACNAS National Conference also provides an important place for you to recharge as a professional, as you connect with peers, build your own networks, and recruit new students.
For complete conference information, please visit http://sacnas.org/events/national-conf?.

SC13
November 17 - 22, 2013 - Denver, Colorado

SC13, the premier annual international conference on high-performance computing, networking, and storage, will be held in Denver, Colorado. The Technical Papers Program at SC is the leading venue for presenting the highest-quality original research, from the foundations of HPC to its emerging frontiers. The conference committee solicits submissions of excellent scientific merit that introduce new ideas to the field and stimulate future trends on topics such as applications, systems, parallel algorithms, and performance modeling. For more information, please visit http://sc13.supercomputing.org/content/papers.

International Conference on Educational Technologies 2013
November 29-  December 1, 2013 - Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

CEduTech is the scientific conference addressing the real topics as seen by teachers, students, parents and school leaders. Both scientists, professionals and institutional leaders are invited to be informed by experts, sharpen the understanding what education needs and how to achieve it.  The conference covers six main areas: Education in Context, Education as Professional Field, Curricular Evolution, Learner Orientation, Integrating Educational Technologies and International Higher Education. These broad areas are divided into more detailed areas. For more information, please visit http://www.icedutech-conf.org/.

Research Features From Across the Country and Around the World

Berkeley Lab Researchers Discover Universal Law for Light Absorption in 2D Semiconductors
Berkeley Lab News Center

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory researchers say they have discovered a quantum unit of photon absorption, called AQ, that should apply to all two-dimensional (2D) semiconductors. They say their discovery offers insight into the optical properties of 2D semiconductors and quantum wells, and could lead to exotic new optoelectronic and photonic technologies. "We discovered that the magnitude of step-wise absorptance in these materials is independent of thickness and band structure details," says University of California, Berkeley professor Ali Javey. He notes the discovery was made possible thanks to a unique process in which thin films of indium arsenide are transferred onto an optically transparent substrate.  To read further, please visit http://newscenter.lbl.gov/news-releases/2013/07/31/berkeley-lab-researchers-discover-universal-law-for-light-absorption-in-2d-semiconductors/.

IBM Scientists Show Blueprints for Brain-Like Computing
MIT Technology Review

IBM researchers have created TrueNorth, a computer architecture designed to work more like the human brain. The architecture relies on complex simulations that could lead to a new generation of machines that function more like biological brains. The researchers used TrueNorth to demonstrate a way to use chips with neurosynaptic cores for specific tasks, such as building a more efficient biologically-inspired artificial retina. Unlike conventional computer architectures, TrueNorth stores and processes information in a distributed, parallel way, like the neurons and synapses in a brain. To read further, please visit http://www.technologyreview.com/news/517876/ibm-scientists-show-blueprints-for-brain-like-computing/.

Stanford Engineers Receive Award to Improve Supercomputing and Solar Efficiency
Stanford Report

A Stanford University researcher team led by Gianluca Iaccarino will receive $3.2 million a year for the next five years under the National Nuclear Security Administration's Predictive Science Academic Alliance Program II (PSAAP II) to house one of its three new Multidisciplinary Simulation Centers. PSAAP II participants will devise new computing paradigms within the context of solving a practical engineering problem, focusing on predicting the efficiency of a relatively untested and poorly understood method of harvesting solar energy. The Stanford researchers have proposed a system in which fine particles suspended within a fluid would absorb sunlight and directly transfer the heat evenly throughout the fluid, which would allow for higher energy absorption and transfer rates, ultimately increasing the efficiency of the overall system. To read further, please visit http://news.stanford.edu/news/2013/august/supercomputing-solar-efficiency-080113.html.

Educator Opportunities and Information

The Mickelson ExxonMobil Teachers Academy: Summer Camp for Teachers

Two hundred highly qualified third- through fifth-grade teachers from around the country spent the week of July 21 to 26 attending the 2013 Mickelson ExxonMobil Teachers Academy at Liberty Science Center in Jersey City, New Jersey. The select group attended the intensive one-week, all-expense-paid professional development program, which was started by pro golfer Phil Mickelson and his wife, Amy. The Mickelsons work with ExxonMobil to create this special learning environment for teachers, and they are joined by math and science experts from the National Science Teachers Association and Math Solutions, who teach the teachers at the Academy. For more information on this program, please visit http://blogs.lsc.org/2013/07/26/mickelson-2013-exxonmobil-teachers-academy/, For information on next year’s academy, please visit http://mickelson.nsta.org/.

Your Computer Science Questions for the New York Times

The New York Times is looking for entertaining (smart and a little goofy) questions to test their readers' knowledge of high school math, science and computer science concepts.  This is an important opportunity to showcase the critical importance of computer science knowledge for the general public, so please participate! Please send your favorite questions! The best questions will be featured in a New York Times interactive graphic that focuses on science, math and computer science education in U.S. high schools. To submit questions, please visit  http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2013/07/23/science/math-and-science-questions.html?ref=science&_r=0. The question needs to be original, and not under copyright. If we select your question, you will be contacted for the name and location of your school.  For further questions, please email Hannah Fairfield at hannah@nytimes.com.

Plant Genomics Congress
September 23-24, 2013 -  St. Louis, Missouri

The event is the sister meeting to the successful Plant Genomics Europe Congress, which took place in London this May and had over 260 attendees. Plant Genomics USA Congress will examine the latest NGS platforms and Technologies for Plant research as well as Bioinformatics, Data management and Analysis. Over two days, educators  would be able to hear presentations and case studies form experts in the field such as Tom Brutnell, Honorary Adjunct Associate Professor, Biology, Director of ERAC Institute, Donald Danforth of the  Plant Science Centre and Rod. A. Wing, Director of Arizona Genomics Institute.   For more information, please visit http://globalengage.co.

Check Out Paul Andersen's NGSS Videos and Become an Next Generation Science Standards Expert

The nation’s favorite YouTube education guru, Paul Andersen, just completed a video series on the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). Check out his playlist and learn about the concepts that were originally delineated within the K–12 Science Framework. Andersen's video series covers eight practices, seven crosscutting concepts, and 44 disciplinary core ideas. By listening to these short clips, over time you can become the NGSS expert in your school. Learn how the NGSS differs from the Common Core; and understand what guidance the NGSS offer in terms of what you should teach and how you should teach it.

Student Engagement and Information

Two New Programs Supporting SC13 Student Travel Grants
ACM-W Grant Deadline - August 15, 2013
SIGHPC Grant Deadline - September 15., 2013

The ACM Special Interest Group on High Performance Computing is offering  two opportunities for student (undergraduate or early career graduate student) to attend the SC13 Conference in Denver through travel grants. Each opportunity supports up to 3 grants.  Each awarded student will be reimbursed for up to US$600 for travel within North America - or US$1200 if travel originates outside of North America. Students awarded a travel grant under either program will be assigned a mentor to help them navigate the conference. Please refer to additional details on the SIGHPC web page at http://www.sighpc.org/resources/travel. Please send  questions to students@sighpc.org.

Twelve Schools Compete to Build a Digital-Humanities Tool in a Week
Chronicle of Higher Education

George Mason University recently hosted 12 scholars, who were collaborating to develop a Web application for the digital humanities for the One Week | One Tool challenge, sponsored by the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH). In five days, the team developed Serendip-o-matic, a "serendipitous" discovery tool that enables users to enter information such as a bibliography or article to view results on similar materials that they might otherwise have missed. The tool pulls material from the online collections of the Digital Public Library of America, the Europeana digital library, and Flickr Commons, says Emory University's Brian Croxall, To read further, please visit http://chronicle.com/blogs/wiredcampus/how-to-build-a-digital-humanities-tool-in-a-week.

Scholarship Deadline for Tapia Conference is September 12, 2013
February 5-8, 2014 – Seattle, Washington
Registration Open October 2013

The Tapia Conference provides scholarships for students (undergraduate/graduate), post-docs and a limited number for faculty. Scholarships include conference registration, meals during the conference, hotel accommodations, and a reimbursable travel stipend. Tapia scholarships are generously funded by government and industry organizations. The Scholarship Committee realizes that an applicant’s level of accomplishment in computer science will vary for different students, particularly graduate and undergraduate students; however, a commitment to pursuing a career in computer science is an important part of the Tapia Conference experience. As examples, grades, level research experience, and recommendation letters may each play a different role in indicating an applicant’s interest in growing in the discipline. For more information on how to apply, please visit http://tapiaconference.org/participate/scholarships.

Career Opportunities

Systems Administrator
University of Nebraska Holland Computing Center
Requisition- S_130435

The Holland Computing Center (HCC) is a large High Performance Computing facility supporting the NU system. The position is responsible for system administration of a high performance computing resource that currently is connected with Infiniband and a Lustre storage system. The cluster system runs LINUX. For more information, please visit https://ehttps://employment.unl.edu/. mployment.unl.edu.

Software Developer-Systems Biology Knowledgebase
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory - Req #74891

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory is building a next-generation computational resource for biological investigation, the Systems Biology Knowledgebase (KBase). This integrated software system aims to become the "go-to" online community for biological research.  KBase is a collaborative effort designed to accelerate our understanding of microbes, microbial communities, and plants. It will be a community-driven, extensible and scalable open-source software framework and application system. Collaborations with other Department of Energy (DOE) projects, including biofuel research, bioremediation, and the Earth's carbon cycle will provide exciting opportunities for advancing fundamental and applied biological science. By providing tools for systems biology experimental design and data analysis and creating a platform to enable predictive modeling and hypothesis generation and testing, KBase will change the way biological research is done. For more information, please visit https://lbl.taleo.net/careersection/2/jobdetail.ftl?lang=en&job=74891.

Visiting Postdoctoral Fellow
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory- Req #76121

Under the direction of the principal investigator, the successful candidate will be involved in, but not limited to, the development of a flexible, high-performance, scalable electronics system for radionuclide imaging (OpenPET project http://openpet.lbl.gov). Other research projects include the development of a novel silicon photomultiplier and a time-of-flight PET camera with a timing resolution of less than 300 ps. The successful candidate is expected to have strong background in electronics design and implementation, particularly in the area of digital electronics and field programmable gate arrays. For more information and to register, please visit
https://lbl.taleo.net/careersection/2/jobdetail.ftl?lang=en&job=76121.

On the Lighter Side - Computational News of Interest

Turning Unused TV Frequencies Into Wireless Broadband
A*STAR Research

The Singapore White Spaces Pilot Group was formed in April 2012 to support Singapore's efforts to adopt TV white spaces (TVWS) for consumer and business services and applications. The group was founded by A*STAR's Institute for Infocomm Research (I2R), Microsoft Singapore, StarHub, and Neul. "The successful pilots that we have seen in Singapore have set benchmarks in showcasing the potential of TVWS technology in delivering reliable and cost-efficient wireless broadband for multiple commercial applications," says I2R executive director Tan Geok Leng. In one of the projects, I2R is working to develop a TVWS-based infrastructure for utility metering, which could be a basis of energy grid modernization. "The benefit of using TVWS technology is tremendous, be it to support 'smart city' infrastructure, to extend connectivity into previously challenging environments, or to enable ubiquitous, reliable wireless connectivity that will enhance our lives," says Neul's Tracy Hopkins," Tan says. To read further, please visit http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/07/130731152015.htm.

Watson and the Future of Cognitive Computing
Computerworld Australia

In an interview, IBM Research-Australia director Glenn Wightwick discussed the technologies behind the Watson supercomputer and what differentiates cognitive computing from past approaches to machine learning and natural-language processing. Wightwick says that much of the technology behind cognitive computing has existed for many years, but many applications now being explored involve processing a tremendous volume of data extremely rapidly to enable cognitive systems to engage with people in a natural way. "What is dramatically different about how we are approaching cognitive computing based on the Watson technology is we approached natural language as a stochastic problem," he says. "Watson learns through a combination of training via machine learning, adapting for features of the language that are new to a particular domain, and ingesting all the information it can find on the domain."  To read further, please visit http://www.computerworld.com.au/article/522302/watson_future_cognitive_computing/