HPC in the News

 

XSEDE15 Registration OPEN!
Late Registration Begins – June 26, 2015

XSEDE15 takes place July 26-30 at the Marriott Renaissance St. Louis Grand Hotel in the heart of downtown St. Louis, home of the Gateway Arch, the Mississippi River, many nationally recognized Universities and more. XSEDE15, the 4th annual conference, will showcase the discoveries, innovations, challenges and achievements of those who utilize and support XSEDE resources and services, as well as other digital resources and services throughout the world. To see price points and register, please visit: https://conferences.xsede.org/xsede15/registration. 

2015 Rice HPC Summer Institutes - Registration Now Open
June 1- 4, 2015 – Rice University, Houston, Texas

The 2015 HPC Summer Institute is organized by the Ken Kennedy Institute for Information Technology at Rice University in an effort to address a growing demand for training and education in high-performance computing and scientific programming. While the main driver for the Summer Institute has been participation from the oil and gas industry, the curriculum is broadly applicable to any field engaged in scientific computing where there is a need to harness more of the computing power offered by modern servers and clusters. The HPC Summer Institute offers participants, with a wide array of backgrounds, opportunities to be trained in modern programming techniques and tools. For more information and to register, please visit http://rice2015hpcsi.rice.edu/.

Application Deadline Approaching: Open Science Gris User School 2015
Application Deadline – May 1, 2015

If you could access thousands, maybe millions of hours of computing, how would it transform your research?  What discoveries might you make?
We are looking for students to apply for and attend the Open Science Grid (OSG) User School 2015, where they will learn to use high throughput computing (HTC) to harness vast amounts of computing power for research. The School takes place 27-31 July at the beautiful University of Wisconsin in Madison. Using lectures, discussions, roleplays, and lots of hands-on work with OSG experts in HTC, students will learn how HTC systems work, how to run and manage many jobs and huge datasets to implement a full scientific computing workflow, and where to turn for help and more info.
Worried about costs?  Successful applicants will get financial support to attend the OSG School, covering all basic travel, hotel, and food costs.  This is a great deal!
Ideal candidates are science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) graduate students whose research demands large-scale computing.  Also, we will consider applications from post-doctoral students, faculty, staff, and advanced undergraduates, so make a good case for you! For complete information, please visit http://www.opensciencegrid.org/UserSchool.

NERSC Invites Haswell-Based Cray XC40 Into Cori Fold
HPCwire

Nearly one year after the Department of Energy inked a $70 million contract for the exascale-relevant Cori system, news of a second, smaller system has come to light. In an interesting turn of events, the National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center (NERSC) revealed today that it will be acquiring a “Cori Phase 1” system, a 10-cabinet Cray XC40 machine outfitted with Intel “Haswell” parts to be installed this summer. The new system is in addition to the original Cori contract – the outcome of the NERSC-8/Trinity procurement partnership – which is still on track for mid-2016 delivery. Named after American biochemist Gerty Cori, the next-gen Cray XC system with 9,300 self-hosted Intel Knights Landing (KNL) takes a manycore approach that is a distinct departure for the leading-edge of supercomputing. The Phase 1 Cori will employ 16-core E5 v3 Xeons running at 2.3 Ghz, the follow-on to the Intel “Ivy Bridge” processors that drive Edison. The Cray XC40 will be the first NERSC system installed in the newly built Computational Research and Theory (CRT) facility at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Hopper, the Cray XE6 that was NERSC’s first petascale supercomputer, and another system, Carver, will not make the move to CRT; but will retire from the Oakland Scientific Facility (OSF) in downtown Oakland. To read more, please visit http://www.hpcwire.com/2015/04/22/nersc-invites-haswell-based-cray-xc40-into-cori-fold/.

San Diego, Home of SDSC, Featured in National Geographic Documentary "World's Smart Cities: San Diego"

San Diegans who tout their city as "America's Finest" have been known to get called out on that claim. But when National Geographic ranks the region among the world's “smart cities," it's hard to argue the point. If a book really can be judged by its cover, San Diego's scenic beauty is a great start to the story. All well and good. Truth be told, however, it’s what’s springing from the minds of geniuses -- and the power of business an industry – that’s now putting this city on the world's 21st-century map in a substantial context. For more information, please visit
http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local/Worlds-Smart-City-Branding-Thrills-Local-Leaders-Boosters-301170801.html#ixzz3YFG0lAyB.

Cyber-Physical Systems Week 2015
CCCBlog

The Cyber-Physical Systems community is an exciting group of researchers and developers working to advance the emerging system science that deeply integrates computing (cyber) and engineered (physical) components. CPS enables truly “smart” technologies, systems, and infrastructures of the future. Examples of CPS today include the self-driving car, tele-operated robots, and smart-grid technologies. With more than 80% of the US population living in urban environments, there is a clear and apparent need to further engage research and development innovations to enhance urban quality of life. Naturally, the CPS community plays a central role in the emerging Smart City paradigm. NSF CISE Directorate prioritizes the professional development early-career investigators by supporting programs such as the innovative CISE Research Initiation Initiative (CRII) and NSF’s CAREER Awards. Recognizing that researchers in the multi-domains field of CPS need broad perspectives beyond their research expertise, the CISE Directorate initiated an early-career workshop concept where new investigators gather for professional development, building professional networks, and engaging in a national a discussion to explore research opportunities with their peers. The early-career workshop is both a professional development activities for researchers and as well as mechanism for NSF to develop a core researcher community to address emerging national priorities. To read more, please visit http://www.cccblog.org/2015/04/17/cyber-physical-systems-week-2015/.

 

XSEDE News from Partners and Friends

Keep Up With Friends

Sign up to receive Impact by XSEDE—the project's monthly e-newsletter to update subscribers on the activities of XSEDE—by visiting https://illinois.edu/gm/subscribe/22179. Follow XSEDE on social media by liking XSEDE at Facebook.com/XSEDEscience, and following XSEDE on Twitter (@XSEDEscience). Also follow the hashtag #XSEDE15 for further updates and interactions on the annual conference.

TACC’s "Wrangler" Data-Intensive System Opens to Scientists

The Texas Advanced Computing Center (TACC) at The University of Texas at Austin, Indiana University, and the University of Chicago today announced that Wrangler, a groundbreaking data analysis and management system, is now in early operations for the open science community. The system is supported by a grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF), which includes $6 million for deployment plus additional funding for operations. The design and implementation of Wrangler responds to developments in technology and research practice that are collectively referred to as Big Data or the Data Deluge, encompassing a variety of needs related to research data storage, analysis, and access in the sciences and engineering. To read further, please visit https://www.tacc.utexas.edu/-/wrangler-data-intensive-system-opens-to-scientists To obtain an allocation on Wrangler via an XSEDE startup or an XRAC allocation request, please visit: https://www.xsede.org/allocations To access the Wrangler user guide, please visit: https://portal.tacc.utexas.edu/user-guides/wrangler.

 

SC News

Nominations for SC18 General Chair and Steering Committee Chair  Open
Nominations Chair Close – June 9, 2015
Nominations for Steering Close - September 8, 2015

SC offers a unique mix of industry, research, and operational folks from all the disciplines that make up high performance computing. For many of our 10,000 plus annual attendees, the week they spend at the conference helps to shape the rest of their professional year. Yet, and perhaps surprisingly, SC is a nonprofit conference led entirely by volunteers. This is part of the conference's appeal in our community of independent thinkers. It is worth restating that, in order to ensure that SC remains volunteer-led, the conference needs volunteer leadership. You can volunteer to serve on an SC committee at any time during the year. Today we have a special volunteer opportunity, however, as SC is calling for candidates who are passionate about HPC to serve on its steering committee, or to be considered for general chair of SC18. Details and qualifications are http://supercomputing.org/nominations.php.

 

Upcoming Conferences, Webinars, and Seminars  

Integrated Digital Infrastructure (IDI) Condo Computing Program – Information Session
April 29, 2015 – La Jolla, California
Noon – 1:00pm

Condo computing is a research computing program wherein the researchers purchase and own the equipment and UCSD operates and maintains the system on their behalf.  UCSD’s high performance condo cluster, the Triton Shared Computing Cluster (TSCC), currently has 14 groups/labs participating with 230+ users and 170 compute nodes totaling 80+ teraflops of computing capability.  During the information session, we will be talking about our recent selection of a new vendor, now offering updated technology and excellent pricing.  . For further information on the IDI condo computing program, please see the following links: http://idi.ucsd.edu/computing/index.html orhttp://idi.ucsd.edu/computing/tscc-new-purchases.html.

First In the World MSI Grant Competition Call
May 4, 2015 -  3:00-4:00pm ET
To participate, please dial in:
Dial In: 800-369-1818
Participant passcode: 5411524

The White House Initiative for Historically Black Colleges and Universities will host "Office Hours" for Minority Serving Institutions.  Dr. Ivory Toldson, Deputy Director for the Initiative, will open up the call and turn it over to Frank Frankfort and Gary Thomas of the Office of Postsecondary Education to discuss First in the World and take questions. The purpose of the FITW grant competition is to incentivize institutions of higher education and partnering nonprofit organizations to collaborate and help spur the development of innovative approaches and strategies that will improve educational access and outcomes. To help grow the evidence base of effective educational practices, FITW is structured as an evidence-based grant competition that offers up to three tiers of grants – development, validation, and scale up.  Each tier requires a specific level of evidence underlying the proposed approach, and rigorous evaluation of each funded intervention. 

Department of Energy --- Advancing Research and Technology in the Sciences (ARTS) Summit
May 5, 2015 - 8:30am- 4:00pm - U.S. Department or Energy in Washington, D.C. \

The Department of Energy's Office of Minority Education and Community Development (MECD) will host its first annual Advancing Research and Technology in the Sciences (ARTS) Summit. Minority Serving Institutions will have an opportunity to meet and network with Department program office representatives and discuss partnerships relating to research and development, technical assistance, grant and contract opportunities.  The goal of the summit is to:  (1) broaden the Department's knowledge of minority serving institutions (MSIs) capabilities; (2) increase MSI knowledge about DOE funding opportunities; and (3) explore student opportunities at the Department and its National Laboratories.  You may submit names and questions to Ms. Jamie Scipio at: Jamie.Scipio@hq.doe.gov.

TACC Training, Wrangler (TACC), Education & Outreach, General User News
May 8, 2015 - 1:00- 3:00pm CDT

This course will introduce attendees to the use of Structured Query Language (SQL) and NoSQL database technologies on the Wrangler data-intensive compute platform.

 Using Postgres, MySQL, and MongoDB as examples, the basics of Relational Database Management Systems (RDBMS) will be introduced, alongside common variations on RDBMS platforms for specific applications. The process of setting up both temporary and persistent database services on Wrangler will be demonstrated, along with submitting and executing jobs that utilize database technologies, and specialized database applications such as GIS will be briefly addressed. After completing the session, attendees should have an understanding of the complete workflow from getting a Wrangler allocation, requesting a database, loading the database and performing analysis work based on the data therein. To register for this course please visit the XSEDE course calendar at https://portal.xsede.org/course-calendar.

Linux Administrator Workshop for Novice HPC Users
May 18-22, 2015 – Norman, Oklahoma

If you are a Linux system administrator new to HPC, this is the workshop for you! In just five days you will: learn HPC system administration concepts and technologies and how to apply them, get hands-on skills building a small test cluster in lab sessions, hear real-life stories and get to ask experts questions in panel discussions. Plus you’ll create a personal network of other professionals in the HPC field. For more information or to register, please visit http://www.linuxclustersinstitute.org/.

National Workshop on Teaching an Undergraduate Parallel Programming Course with Pattern Programming
July 13, 2015 - Southeastern Universities Research AssociationWashington, DC

This one-day workshop for CS educators will introduce a new way to teach parallel and distributed programming starting with parallel computational design patterns. Beginning with computational patterns has a number of important teaching advantages including ease of programming, good programming style, and scalable designs. This approach can also be used earlier in undergraduate curriculum to introduce parallel programming techniques as promoted by the NSF/IEEE-TCPP Curriculum Initiative on Parallel and Distributed Computing. Prerequisites are basic C and Java. This workshop is a combination of formal presentations, hands-on experiences, and discussions. Participants should bring their own laptop. A VirtualBox Ubuntu virtual machine will be provided on flash drives with all the software and programs needed for the workshop, and for use afterwards in your classes. All you will need is VirtualBox installed (readily available without cost). For more information and to register, please visit http://www.cvent.com/d/grqzsl/4W. A workshop summary page can be found at http://www.cvent.com/events/2015-nsf-national-workshop/event-summary-a446d89ed6794de781f9fde4717dce38.aspx.

 

Research News From Around the World

SDSC Connects the Dots for Professionals with Graphing Analytics

The recent explosion of interest in analyzing and mining “Big Data” across almost all sectors of science and industry has data scientists looking for new ways to model data so as to accurately represent it and facilitate the gleaning of insights and knowledge from the data.

Graph representations, while certainly not a new concept, are noteworthy because of the timely and relevant situations and phenomena that can be modeled using graph-like data structures.  What is new and innovative is the development of tools and techniques to operate on graphs at the Big Data scale.  “This development now has organizations and individuals looking for specialized training and education in graph analytic techniques,” said Amarnath Gupta, director of the Advanced Query Processing Laboratory, which is part of SDSC’s Science Research & Development division. To continue reading, please visit https://www.sdsc.edu/News%20Items/PR20150402_graph_analytics.html.

Political Science Researcher Uses Stampede to Analyze How Spending Affects Party Polarization

Intense fighting, sequesters, and threats of shutdown are what many people associate with the current government in the United States. If it seems that this tension has become more amplified, that's because it has. Since 2010, when Republicans gained control of both the House and Senate, gridlock in government has been even more pervasive and damaging to enacting legislative change. Some scholars point to divided government, a situation where one party controls the White House and the other controls one or both houses of Congress, as an important source of partisan conflict. But one researcher argues that disagreements over federal spending priorities may have a significant effect on the rise in party polarization over the last few decades as well. Eric Svensen, a researcher and lecturer in the Department of Government at The University of Texas at Austin, is working to understand why government often seems incapable of solving many issues facing the country. He's analyzing how spending affects partisan conflict in Washington. To please visit https://www.tacc.utexas.edu/-/rock-em-sock-em-politics.

ORNL Reports Method That Takes Quantum Sensing to New Level

Thermal imaging, microscopy and ultra-trace sensing could take a quantum leap with a technique developed by researchers at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory. “By pushing the noise limit lower than ever before, we enable these sensors to see things they couldn’t see,” Pooser said. “Imagine an image taken with so low contrast that all you see is a big gray square. Now imagine a technique that enhances the contrast to allow discernible features to emerge from that background.” Their work overcomes fundamental limitations of detection derived from the Heisenberg uncertainty principle, which states that the position and momentum of a particle cannot be measured with absolute precision. The more accurately one of the values is known, the less accurately the other value can be known. Ultimately, the new technique, which uses two beams of light to cancel noise, results in a 60 percent error reduction. The result enables higher contrast imaging and detection of lower concentrations of particles than are possible with conventional sensors. Among other possibilities, this work lays the foundation for integrating the sensor into an existing device such as an atomic force microscope, demonstrating that the proof of principle can be used to improve an existing sensor. Atomic force microscopes offer resolution down to fractions of a nanometer and are useful for imaging, measuring and manipulating matter at the nanoscale. To read more, please visit http://www.ornl.gov/ornl/news/news-releases/2015/ornl-reports-method-that-takes-quantum-sensing-to-new-level.

PSC Supercomputer Faces Four Poker Pros in No-Limit Texas Hold’Em Competition

In a contest that echoes Deep Blue’s chess victory over Garry Kasparov and Watson beating two Jeopardy! Champions, computer poker software developed at Carnegie Mellon University will challenge four of the world’s best professional poker players in a “Brains Vs. Artificial Intelligence” competition beginning April 24 at Rivers Casino. Over the course of two weeks, the CMU computer program, Claudico, will play 20,000 hands of Heads-Up No-limit Texas Hold’em with each of the four poker pros. The pros – Doug Polk, Dong Kim, Bjorn Li and Jason Les – will receive appearance fees derived from a prize purse of $100,000 donated by Microsoft Research and by Rivers Casino. The Carnegie Mellon scientists will compete for something more precious. Though an earlier version of the computer program, called Tartanian7, decisively won the Heads-Up, No-limit Texas Hold’em category of the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence’s Annual Computer Poker Competition last July, Sandholm said that doesn’t mean it necessarily is the equal of human players. Computers have demonstrated they can outplay humans at the simpler game of Heads-Up Limit Texas Hold’em, he noted, but not the far more complicated no-limit version. To read more, please visit http://www.hpcwire.com/off-the-wire/carnegie-mellon-computer-faces-poker-pros-in-texas-holdem-competition/.

Penn State Researchers: Video Games Can Power Up From Merely Fun to Meaningful Experiences

Pennsylvania State University (PSU) researchers have found many video games can have meaningful entertainment experiences for players. They studied 512 participants' experiences with video games, and learned players not only enjoyed playing games, but also frequently appreciated them at a deeper, more meaningful level. Participants suggested story details in the game were critical to feelings of appreciation, indicating more meaningful games were associated with heightened feelings of insight or enrichment. "Our research suggests that contrary to stereotypes, games have the potential to be as meaningful to players as other, more esteemed forms of entertainment such as literature or cinema," says PSU professor Mary Beth Oliver. In addition, video games may provide players the opportunity to experience valuable situations and emotions that other forms of entertainment may not do as frequently, according to the researchers. To read further, please visit http://news.psu.edu/story/353213/2015/04/15/research/video-games-can-power-merely-fun-meaningful-experiences.

 

Educator News, Conferences, and Opportunities

The African-American Male Achievement Network (A-MAN) Brings STEM to the Inner Cities
Los Angeles Sentinel

The nonprofit African-American Male Achievers Network (A-MAN) was founded in 1991 to provide year-round science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM)-related programs to students in K-12 using computer labs as well as hands-on activities with laser beams and robotics. The goal is to encourage underserved African-American and Latino students to enter STEM careers. Will Johnson is an A-MAN alumnus who is now a visual effects professional. When he was 15, he took part in a science fair where he helped construct a model train with reverse magnets that levitated. The nonprofit serves about 1,200 students in Los Angeles County and recently received a $30,000 grant from Edison International, which over the years has provided more than $218,000 toward A-MAN's STEM-related programs. A-MAN's STEM education currently comprises students who are 50 percent African-American, 49 percent Latino, and 1 percent Asian-American. To read further, please visit http://www.lasentinel.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=14883:a-man-brings-stem-to-the-inner-cities&catid=65&Itemid=155.

Which Groups Are More Likely to Be Hired and Receive Tenure in STEM? The Answer May Surprise You!
Inside Higher Ed

A new study from researchers at the University of Wisconsin at Madison's Wisconsin Center for Education Research found men, and in particular white men, do not have the advantage many presume they have in science, technology, engineering, and math, at least in academia. The study examined data from the national Survey of Doctorate Recipients gathered from 1993 through 2010, focusing on the amount of time it took academics to obtain a tenure-track position and then earn tenure. The study found black and Latino Ph.D.s were more likely than their white counterparts to be hired promptly, while Asian doctoral recipients were significantly less likely to be hired. Meanwhile, black assistant professors faced a "persistent disadvantage" in receiving tenure. Women had an advantage in obtaining tenure-track positions, but faced some disadvantages in obtaining tenure. To read further, please visit https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2015/04/20/new-research-which-groups-are-more-likely-be-hired-and-receive-tenure-stem.

 

CAST Professional Development Program

 

The CAST Professional Development Program is an integrated set of modules to train teachers on how to incorporate computational reasoning and tools, such as modeling and simulation, into their middle and high school math and science curriculum. The modules are in two tracks: The introductory track is a set of modules that focuses on how to use models and simulations that already exist and are available over the internet, with enough understanding about how such models work to know how to use them effectively in the classroom. The depth track is a set of modules that provides more in-depth understanding and hands-on experience with the different modeling tools. This track is intended for new CAST PDP trainers and also teachers who desire a deeper understanding of the tools. To download the free program, please visit http://www.psc.edu/index.php/cast/professional-development-program.

PSC Offers the CI JumpStart program for Pittsburgh-area Educator

Through the JumpStart program, PSC will come to your school and provide a two-hour workshop for students and teachers to introduce topics related to computational science and cyberinfrastructure, to get you thinking about science project ideas. Bringing Jumpstart to you through: science class guest lectures — this format fits well into a standard class period. Longer periods can be accommodated by allowing for more discussion related to current events in computational science, after school program — these programs may draw a more focused audience and weekend workshop — a less dependent school support method with more rigorous presentation. Numerous studies have shown the value of experiential learning in the mastery of complex topics. PSC extends this principle to education in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) by developing and deploying STAKEs - Science and Technology Active Knowledge Experiences. STAKEs are opportunities for students to explore and experience the impact of science and technology in active, rather than passive, ways. To download the free program, please visit http://www.psc.edu/index.php/more-resources/jumpstart.

CISCO Regional Academy Conference Announced

The Cisco Western Academy Support and Training Center (WASTC) announced it will host the Regional Academy Conference and Pre-Conference at Cal Poly Pomona on June 15-19, 2015. A number of sponsors have collaborated to reduce the conference costs to participants.   Conference participants can earn 20 hours of professional development credit and learn how to implement a very exciting cyber-security program at their schools. For more details about this 3-day workshop, please visit http://www.edsynergy.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/WASTC_Conference_Cyberpatriots_Flyer.pdf.

Senate Education Committee Passes ESEA Reauthorization Bill

This month, , on a unanimous vote of 22-0, the Senate HELP Committee approved a bipartisan bill that rewrites the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (No Child Left Behind). This means the bill will go to the Senate floor for final consideration, although floor time has not yet been scheduled. During Senate markup of the bill, known as the Every Child Achieves Act, 60 amendments were debated, 21 amendments offered and withdrawn, 29 amendments were passed, and 8 amendments failed. See the list of amendments here. Most of the amendments were adopted via voice vote with little controversy or withdrawn out of respect for maintaining the bipartisan nature of the legislation. To read further, please visit http://nstacommunities.org/blog/2015/04/17/senate-education-committee-passes-esea-reauthorization-bill/.

Programming Concepts Workshop for Educators Offered by Shodor
June 15-19, 2015 - Durham, North Carolina

Every day, most of us interact with technology that runs a computer program in some aspect. This workshop is designed to introduce students to the concepts of computer programming. In this hands-on, interactive workshop students will learn a wide variety of computer programming concepts such as conditional statements, data structures, procedures and functions. Students will learn how to program in both visual and textual programming environments to create highly interactive end-user applications. Participants work both in teams and individually in a supervised, hands-on learning environment. Each day they will learn about new approaches and tools and then have the opportunity to try them out for themselves in our computer lab. This course introduces students to various programming environments and tools to solve real-world problems. For more information, please visit http://www.shodor.org/succeed/curriculum/workshops/ProgConcepts/.

Advanced Programming Concepts Workshop for Educators Offered by Shodor
June 15-19, 2015 - Durham, North Carolina
June 22-26, 2015 - Durham, North Carolina

As technology increasingly penetrates more and more areas of everyday life, so do the computer programs it runs. This workshop is a continuation of the Programming Concepts workshop. Using the solid understanding of basic programming already learned, this workshop is designed to introduce students to the more advanced concepts of computer programming. These include concepts such as code libraries, advanced language features, debugging, event handling, and version control. Students will learn how to program in both visual and textual programming environments to create highly interactive end-user applications. Participants work both in teams and individually in a supervised, hands-on learning environment. Each day they will learn about new approaches and tools and then have the opportunity to try them out for themselves in our computer lab. This course introduces students to various programming environments and tools to solve real-world problems. For more information, please visit http://www.shodor.org/succeed/curriculum/workshops/AdvProgConcepts/.

 

Student Engagement and Opportunities

TACC Offers Camp C3 for Middle School Students
July 20-23, 2015 – Austin, Texas

Camp C3 is a one-week, summer program for middle school students who have an interest in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. TACC partners with UTeach Outreach to support PREP 2. This camp is full. We will accept applications for Summer 2016 starting early next year. For more information, please visit https://www.tacc.utexas.edu/education/stem-programs/camp-c3.

Materials Scientists Putting New Spin on Computing Memory
ScienceDaily

Ever since computers have been small enough to be fixtures on desks and laps, their central processing has functioned something like an atomic Etch A Sketch, with electromagnetic fields pushing data bits into place to encode data. Unfortunately, the same drawbacks and perils of the mechanical sketch board have been just as pervasive in computing: making a change often requires starting from the beginning, and dropping the device could wipe out the memory altogether. As computers continue to shrink--moving from desks and laps to hands and wrists--memory has to become smaller, stable and more energy conscious. A group of researchers from Drexel University's College of Engineering is trying to do just that with help from a new class of materials, whose magnetism can essentially be controlled by the flick of a switch. The team, led by Mitra Taheri, PhD, Hoeganaes associate professor in the College of Engineering and head of the Dynamic Characterization Group in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, is searching for a deeper understanding of materials that are used in spintronic data storage. Spintronics, short for "spin transport electronics," is a field that seeks to harness the natural spin of electrons to control a material's magnetic properties. For an application like computing memory, in which magnetism is a key element, understanding and manipulating the power of spintronics could unlock many new possibilities. Current computer data storage takes one of two main forms: hard drives or random access memories (RAM). To read more, please visit http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/04/150422122003.htm.

 

Faculty Opportunities

Engaging Undergraduates in Research
May 30, 2015 – Seattle, Washington
June 15, 2015 – Portland, Oregon

The objectives of these workshops are to provide faculty with resources and best practices for engaging undergraduates in their research, identifying funding sources for undergraduate research, and encouraging undergraduates to consider careers in research.  To ensure a healthy pipeline of students motivated to continue on to graduate school, it is critically important that talented undergraduates obtain meaningful research experiences. Having faculty who are well-prepared to supervise undergraduate research can make a difference. For more information, please visit http://cra.org/crae/workshops.

 

Institute for Broadening Participation (IBP) Spring and Summer Webinars to Support Your Summer Programming

 

As you look ahead to summer program activities, IBP wants to share information on their spring and summer webinar schedule! These free webinars cover a range of professional development, mentoring and diversity topics customized for students, faculty and administrator audiences. You are encourage you, your colleagues and your students to join webinars as a group! Please register for each webinar separately to ensure you receive webinar connection information. Please also feel free to share this information within your networks.

Funding your Graduate Education

Information for students on different funding options for graduate school including fixed and portable funding sources, tips and strategies for applying to funding opportunities, and an overview of the basic differences between the undergraduate and graduate experience.

June 17, 2015 – 3:00pm ET
Click here to register: http://www.pathwaystoscience.org/webinarregistration.aspx?eventID=EVE-20150617-01

How to Succeed in your Graduate Program

Information for students on making the most of your graduate program including key strategies for academic success, developing a support system, mentoring and professional development resources and preparing for a postdoctoral position.

July 15, 2015 – 3:00pm ET
Click here to register: http://www.pathwaystoscience.org/webinarregistration.aspx?eventID=EVE-20150715-01

Fellowship applications and personal statements

Tips on completing successful applications including personal statements and research statements, with examples of strong and weak statements, and advice from guest speakers.

August 5, 2015 – 3:00pm ET
Click here to register: http://www.pathwaystoscience.org/webinarregistration.aspx?eventID=EVE-20150805-01

 

Computational Science News of Interest

The Hubble Space Telescope, our Window to the Universe, Turns 25
ExtremeTech

The Hubble Space Telescope launched 25 years ago. It’s easy to forget how revolutionary the project was, given that an entire generation of Americans has grown up accustomed to the HST beaming down stunning images of the cosmos on a regular basis. The first space telescope was proposed in 1923 by Hermann Oberth. Even then, it was clear that Earth-based telescopes operated at significant disadvantage. Not only are they impacted by light from cities, the atmosphere itself attenuates and blocks stars that would otherwise be visible. If you want to look at space on Earth, you need much larger telescopes than you’d need in space and some spectra (infrared and ultraviolet) are difficult to observe from Earth at all. The Hubble Space Telescope wasn’t the first telescope to operate in space, but it set goals and longevity targets that were far beyond any previous projects. The ambitious nature of the project led to cost-overruns and delays, while the loss of the Challenger put a freeze on all US space missions. When the Hubble finally launched in 1990, To read more, please visit http://www.extremetech.com/extreme/204075-the-hubble-space-telescope-our-window-on-the-universe-turns-25-today.

Europe Faces 800,000 Shortfall in Skilled ICT Workers by 2020

A shortfall in workers with information and communication technology skills could keep Europe from enjoying the economic and social benefits of trends such as big data and cloud computing. The European Commission's Andrus Ansip described Europe's current state of affairs as alarming in a recent speech in Belgium. He said the rapid growth of the technology sector has led to the creation of 120,000 new jobs a year. However, Ansip noted Europe could face a shortfall of more than 800,000 skilled technology workers by 2020. "We still see big differences in skills levels between [European Union] countries, and different implementation of national skill programs designed to minimize Europe's digital divide," he said. To read further, please visit http://www.v3.co.uk/v3-uk/news/2403908/europe-faces-800-000-shortfall-in-skilled-ict-workers-by-2020.]

 

Social Media

10 Bold Google X Projects Aiming for Tech Breakthroughs
eWeek

Located a half mile away from Google's headquarters in Mountain View, CA, is the company's Google X laboratory, which is dedicated to the research and development of groundbreaking technologies. The lab was the birthplace of Google Glass and is where much of the work on the company's self-driving cars is being carried out, along with several other innovative projects. For example, Google researchers are working on Project Wing, a drone-delivery program that could compete with a similar initiative by Amazon. Other research efforts include Project Loon, which aims to spread Internet access to rural areas using balloons, and Makani Power, which uses airborne wind turbines to generate clean energy. Google X also is focused on health applications. For example, Lift Labs seeks to counteract the effects of Parkinson's disease with a spoon that makes it easier for sufferers to eat, while its Baseline Study hopes to use medical and genomic data to define how a healthy human body appears. To read further, please visit http://www.eweek.com/cloud/slideshows/10-bold-google-x-projects-aiming-for-tech-breakthroughs.html.

Yahoo, USC Researchers Send Out an Extensive Look Into Email Behavior

Yahoo Labs researchers in Sunnyvale, CA, and Barcelona, Spain, as well as from the University of Southern California's Information Sciences Institute, conducted a large-scale study of email habits and behaviors involving more than 2 million participants who sent 16 billion messages over several months. The researchers selected a random sub-sample of Yahoo Mail users worldwide who had at least five replies in each direction. The dataset included messages belonging only to users who voluntarily opted-in for such studies. The researchers monitored the age and identities of senders and recipients, subject lines, when the emails were sent, length, the number of attachments, and the devices from which the emails were checked or sent. The study found users replied faster to emails received during weekdays and working hours, and younger users generally sent faster, shorter replies. To read further, please visit http://phys.org/news/2015-04-extensive-email-behavior.html.