HPC Happenings
XSEDE Program Forges Industry Alliances
The eXtreme Science and Engineering Discovery Environment (XSEDE) is launching a new program – called the Industry Challenge – that connects industry partners with researchers from the open science community in order to enhance product designs and speed time to market. Over at the XSEDE.org website, science writer Scott Gibson details the new program, which brings together collaborative cross-disciplinary teams and provides them with access to XSEDE’s advanced computational capabilities. Industry Challenge draws on the power of collaboration and technology to address industry challenges, according to David Hudak, director of the program. To read further, please visit http://www.hpcwire.com/2014/02/21/xsede-program-forges-industry-alliances/.
2nd SIGHPC Webinar
February 27, 2014 – 1:00pm EST
Don't miss our next webinar! Mark Ebersole of Nvidia will be discussing "Achieve Massively Parallel Acceleration with GPUs" - a topic that should have broad appeal in our community. Please join him and moderator Jeff Hollingsworth (SIGHPC Vice Chair). Registration is free, but must be done in advance. Find out more at http://www.acm.org/news/featured/webinars.
IBM Teams With Universities on Big Data, Analytics Research
eWeek
IBM and Texas A&M University System (TAMUS) researchers have announced a broad collaboration to drive computational sciences research through big data and analytics. The researchers say the collaboration will leverage the power of big data analytics and high-performance computing for solutions across a wide range of challenges. The joint research effort will use IBM's Blue Gene/Q technology, Power and System x servers, and General Parallel File Systems storage systems. "This brings together the best computer scientists and technology in the world to focus on issues so important to our role as a leading research institution and to our land-grant mission of serving the state while also providing resources to serve the greater good throughout the world," says TAMUS chancellor John Sharp. The researchers say they will align their skills, assets, and resources to pursue fundamental research, applied development, educational reach, and sustainable commercial activities with various projects. To read further, please visit http://www.eweek.com/database/ibm-teams-with-universities-on-big-data-analytics-research.html.
SC14 Technical Program Now Accepting Su
Tutorial Workshop Proposal Deadline – March 31, 2014
Abstracts Due - April 4, 2014
Full Papers Due - April 11, 2014
Technical Program submissions opened on February 14th for Research Papers, Posters (Regular, Education, and ACM Student Research Competition), Panels, Tutorials, BOF Sessions, Scientific Visualization and Data Analytics Showcase, Emerging Technologies, and Doctoral Showcase. With the addition of new initiatives (think big data, visualization and data analytics, as well as innovative emerging technologies in HPC) alongside the traditional program elements that our community has come to rely upon, SC14 will continue to be HPC's most informative, exciting, and stimulating event of the year. Every aspect will continue to be rigorously peer-reviewed, providing an informative technical program that meets the highest academic standards. For more information and to submit, please visit https://submissions.supercomputing.org/.
Tech Companies Work to Combat Computer Science Education Gap
U.S. News & World Report
Concern is mounting among educators and industry professionals that there will be a pronounced shortage of qualified employees to fill a swelling number of computer science jobs, stemming from a lack of educational opportunities for students. Ninety percent of U.S. high schools lack computer science classes, while in 33 states such classes do not count toward high school math or science graduation requirements, according to Code.org. To address this problem, Microsoft and other technology firms have deployed programs to interest more students in computer science at a younger age. Microsoft's Technology Education and Literacy in Schools (TEALS) program matches 70 schools in 12 states with about 300 professional software engineers who volunteer to help initiate computer science programs or build on existing programs. "We've started to recognize that [interest in computer science] starts much earlier [than college]," says Microsoft's Lori Harnick. To read further, please visit http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2013/12/27/tech-companies-work-to-combat-computer-science-education-gap.
Viewing Where the Internet Goes
The New York Times
In an interview, Internet pioneers Vinton Cerf and Robert Kahn discuss the future of Internet regulation. Governments that oppose the free flow of information are increasingly demanding changes in Internet governance in reaction to the ongoing leaks about U.S. National Security Agency surveillance by former contractor employee Edward Snowden. Governments worldwide are divided over the issue of whether Internet governance should fall to the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) or the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). Cerf, a former ICANN chairman and current ACM president, is an informal "Internet ambassador" who favors an independent Internet free from state control. Cerf supports the principle of network neutrality, which holds that Internet service providers should enable equal access to all content and applications from all sources. Although Cerf does not view Snowden's revelations as a significant threat to an open, global Internet, he says they might increase interest in end-to-end cryptography. To read further, pl3ase visit http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/31/science/viewing-where-the-internet-goes.html?_r=0.
HPC Conference Calls for Participation
2014 10th International Conference on Natural Computation (ICNC 2014) and the 2014 11th International Conference on Fuzzy Systems and Knowledge Discovery (FSKD 2014)
August 19-21, 2014 - Xiamen, China
Submission Deadline – June 3, 3014
ICNC-FSKD is a premier international forum for scientists and researchers to present the state of the art of data mining and intelligent methods inspired from nature, particularly biological, linguistic, and physical systems, with applications to computers, circuits, systems, control, robotics, communications, and more. This is an exciting and emerging interdisciplinary area in which a wide range of theory and methodologies are being investigated and developed to tackle complex and challenging problems. The registration fee of US-D410 includes proceedings, lunches, dinners, banquet, coffee breaks, and all technical sessions. 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. Please send your proposal to icnc-fskd@xmu.edu.cn For more information, please visit http://icnc-fskd.xmu.edu.cn/.
Call for Papers: 3rd Annual International Space Station Research and Development Conference
June 17-19, 2014 – Chicago, Illinois
Abstract Submission Deadline – March 3, 3914
The annual International Space Station Research and Development Conference will be held at the Hyatt Regency McCormick Place in Chicago, Ill. NASA is seeking abstracts and poster proposals under the categories of discoveries in microgravity science; discoveries in space science, earth science, engineering and education; applications benefiting earth; applications enabling Exploration; applications in technology; commercial applications; and opportunities. Topics should relate to science, exploration and technology activities (past, present, planned or under development) on the International Space Station. For more information about the conference and how to submit and abstract for consideration, visit http://www.astronautical.org/. Questions about this opportunity should be emailed to Dr. David Spencer at dbs9@psu.edu.
Upcoming Conferences, Workshops and Webinars
2014 UC San Diego Series of PACE Data Mining Boot Camps
February 26-27, 2014 – La Jolla, California
Each day, our society creates 2.5 quintillion bytes of data (that’s 2.5 followed by 18 zeros). Conventional statistical analysis and business intelligence software are not designed to capture, curate, manage and process large quantities of data generated by most enterprises. The PACE Boot Camps provide the Big Data community with conceptual and hands-on training. Learn the critical predictive data analytics techniques and tools that contribute to accurate, actionable and agile insights. For more information, please visit http://pace.sdsc.edu/boot-camps.
Rice University 2014 Oil & Gas HPC Workshop
March 6, 2014 – Houston, Texas
The Oil and Gas HPC Workshop, hosted annually at Rice University, is a premier meeting place for engaging in discussion focused on high performance computing and computational science and engineering for the oil and gas industry. The program committee is pleased to invite you to participate in the 7th annual workshop and encourages you to submit abstract(s) for consideration for the technical program. For more information, please visit http://rice2014.og-hpc.org/?utm_source=Oil+%26+Gas+HPC+Workshop+Community&utm_campaign=6928632946-Rice_2013_OG_HPC_Call4Abstracts&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_59170dce43-6928632946-31504533
New England Undergraduate Computing Symposium
March 29, 2014 – Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts
The New England Undergraduate Computing Symposium (NEUCS): Celebrating Excellence and Diversity in Computing was founded to build a diverse and inclusive computing community for undergraduates in the New England area. Diversity is first recognized as increased participation of women and underrepresented minorities, and next, as the breadth of computing, including disciplines such as finance, design, biology, engineering, physics, digital media and more. NEUCS is a regionally supported symposium. The organizing committee consists of volunteers from Brandeis, BU, Northeastern and Tufts Universities who serve to create the student program, and select and invite speakers. Institutions of higher education across the region sponsor the symposium to support the growth of their students and departments that use computing. Exhibitors who participate in the NEUCS symposium include businesses and educational institutions. Panel members and poster judges are local volunteers working in the computing fields. For more information and to register, please visit http://neucs.org/.
Research Features From Across the Country and Around the World
Amazon Lead Highlights HPC Cloud Progress
HPCwire
While the use of public cloud resources for high performance computing applications is laden with some significant performance and other problems for some users, there are several HPC applications that finding a suitable home on the Amazon cloud. From the initial launch of their HPC instance types a couple of years ago, which was followed by the availability of GPU instances for accelerated computing in the cloud, Amazon has been at the forefront of offering a finer-tuned remote option for running applications. While usage has spanned a number of models, with many using these resources for “bursting” at times of peak need with help from an ever-growing array of middleware to help automate the transition, the number of fully-hosted applications for HPC shops running exclusively on clouds remains relatively low, although it is expected to grow. To read further, please visit http://www.hpcwire.com/2014/02/20/amazon-lead-highlights-hpc-cloud-progress/.
Supercomputers: New Software Needed
InformationWeek
Software now presents the greatest challenge in supercomputing due to the need for code that matches processing capability. The top spot in the most recent ranking of supercomputers in November went to China's National University of Defense Technology's Tianhe-2 supercomputer, which reached a benchmark speed of 33.86 petaflops/second. The next goal is exascale computing with speeds of a million trillion calculations per second, which Argonne National Laboratory's Mike Papka says is possible by 2020. One hurdle to building faster supercomputers is creating an operating system that can manage that many calculations per second. Argonne and two other national laboratories are addressing this challenge with the Argo project. High-performance computing also increasingly is focused on applicability to other technology developments such as big data and analytics, open systems as opposed to proprietary systems, and energy efficiency as a requirement, says Brocade's Tony Celeste. To read further, please visit http://www.informationweek.com/government/big-data-analytics/supercomputers-new-software-needed/d/d-id/1113272.
Purdue University Developing An AI Chip to Help Computers Understand Images
Technology Review
Purdue University researchers are developing a chip designed to enable mobile processors to make use of deep learning, which could lead to mobile devices that can understand the content of images and video. The researchers have demonstrated that a co-processor connected to a conventional smartphone processor could help it run deep learning software. The software was able to detect faces or label parts of a street scene. Although the system is not as powerful as other systems, it shows how new forms of hardware could make it possible to use the power of deep learning more widely. "You probably have a collection of several thousand images that you never look at again, and we don't have a good technology to analyze all this content," says Purdue professor Eugenio Culurciello. To read further, please visit http://www.technologyreview.com/news/523181/an-ai-chip-to-help-computers-understand-images/.
Educator News and Opportunities
NASA Exploration Design Challenge
Through a series of science, technology, engineering and mathematics, or STEM, engagement activities, students in grades K-8 will analyze different materials that simulate space radiation shielding and recommend materials that best block radiation and protect astronauts. Students in grades 9-12 will think and act like engineers as they apply what they learn to design shielding to protect a sensor on the Orion crew module from space radiation. After a review of the design solutions submitted by teams in the grades 9-12 challenge, five finalist teams will be selected and matched with a mentor from NASA to test their designs in a virtual simulator. The winning team will build a prototype radiation shield that will be analyzed and submitted to Lockheed Martin for flight certification on the inaugural flight of the Orion Exploration Flight Test, or EFT-1. The five U.S. finalist teams from the grades 9-12 challenge will be invited to attend the EFT-1 launch, currently scheduled for November 2014. The names of all students, grades K-12, participating in the NASA EDC will fly aboard the spacecraft as honorary virtual crewmembers for Orion’s first flight. The deadline to register students for the virtual crew is June 30, 2014. For more information and to register online, visit http://www.nasa.gov/audience/foreducators/spacelife/explorationdesign/overview/index.html#.UdLvoBZU3dI.
Tech Shift: More Women in Computer Science Classes
Peering out from behind the cool glow of iPads and MacBook Pros, some students sit with rapt attention. A few appear lost in daydreams, or perhaps just lost. At least two cruise Facebook. It is a predictable college scene, but this Berkeley computer science class is at the vanguard of a tech world shift. The class has 106 women and 104 men. The gender flip first occurred last spring. It was the first time since at least 1993 - as far back as university enrollment records are digitized - that more women enrolled in an introductory computer science course. It was likely the first time ever. It's a small but a significant benchmark. Male computer science majors still far outnumber female, but Professor Dan Garcia's class is a sign that efforts to attract more women to a field where they have always been vastly underrepresented are working. To read further, please visit http://www.sfgate.com/education/article/Revamped-computer-science-classes-attracting-more-5243026.php.
NES Web Seminar -- Engineering Design Challenge: Spacecraft Structures
February 26, 2014 - 6:30 p.m. EST
As part of a series of electronic professional development experiences for educators, the NASA Explorer Schools project and the National Science Teachers Association are hosting a 90-minute live professional development Web seminar for educators. Learn how to incorporate the excitement of rocketry into your classroom and receive an overview of the engineering design challenge, Spacecraft Structures, where students design and construct a strong, but lightweight, structure that can withstand the launch of a water bottle "rocket." This is the last time this Web seminar will be offered during the current school year. For more information and to register online, visit http://learningcenter.nsta.org/products/symposia_seminars/NES4/webseminar11.aspx. To learn more about the NASA Explorer Schools project, visit http://explorerschools.nasa.gov.
2014 Presidential Innovation Award for Environmental Educators
Application Deadline – February 28, 2014
The Presidential Innovation Award for Environmental Educators recognizes outstanding K-12 teachers who employ innovative approaches to environmental education and use the environment as a context for learning for their students. Applicants must teach full time in a K-12 public school, hold a current teaching license and have a minimum of five years of K-12 teaching experience, including at least three years of teaching environmental education and/or an environment-based curriculum. Teacher awardees receive a commemorative plaque and an award of $2,000 to be used to further the recipient's professional development in environmental education. The awardee's local education agency also receives an award of $2,000 to fund environmental educational activities and programs. For more information, visit http://www2.epa.gov/education/presidential-innovation-award-environmental-educators. The White House Council on Environmental Quality, in partnership with the Environmental Protection Agency, administers this award to nationally honor, support and encourage educators who incorporate environmental education in their classrooms and teaching methods. Questions about this award should be directed to education@epa.gov.
NSTA Virtual Conference on the Next Generation Science Standards
March 8, 2014
Join NSTA for an intensive one-day virtual conference on Saturday, March 8 to learn how to integrate the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) into your K–12 classroom. This web-based professional learning opportunity will feature interactive sessions on modeling, explanation and argumentation, and engineering, plus breakouts by grade level and discipline. Engage with leading experts, discuss ideas with colleagues, and gain practical insights and strategies to better understand and apply key principles from the Next Generation Science Standards—all from the convenience of your home. For more information and to register, please visit http://learningcenter.nsta.org/products/online_courses/VirtualConference.aspx.
Student Engagement and Opportunities
Q&A: Creating Access to STEM Education for Students of Color
New America Media
In an interview, Level Playing Field Institute (LPFI) director Sumaiya Talukdar discusses the Bay Area nonprofit's efforts to help students of color pursue education and careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). LPFI offers low-income students of color a three-year summer program beginning in ninth grade through which they take math and science courses at Stanford University, the University of California, Berkeley, the University of Southern California, and University of California, Los Angeles. Students who participate in the program go on to become STEM majors in college at twice the national average rate. LPFI is working to increase computer science instruction in the Oakland Unified School District, and is organizing hackathons to raise student interest in the subject. Talukdar says that in the hackathons, students with minimal experience created mobile apps to address challenges in their community, with impressive results. "These are not students that traditionally have access to computer science but could really utilize computer science to help their communities or themselves in some way," she says. "Silicon Valley wants diverse candidates because diverse candidates think of diverse ideas and solutions." Talukdar says the greatest challenge in convincing students that they can participate in computer science is the lack of early exposure to technology. To read further, please visit http://newamericamedia.org/trending/2014/01/qa-creating-access-to-stem-education-for-students-of-color.php.
2014 YT Developers Workshop.
March 23-25, 2014 – Santa Cruz, California
This three day event will bring together a diverse group of students, researchers, and developers. While past workshops have been broad in scope, this workshop will be focused on advancing the goals of yt 3.0 in tandem with the goals of the AGORA project. The four primary goals of this workshop will be to advance the state of the code for:
* GPU-based rendering, integrating the PyRGBA toolkit developed at UCSC
* Improve scalability of particle and octree datasets in yt
* Streamline and optimize SPH smoothing kernel implementations
* Integrate more tightly with halo finders and develop an API for SAM interop
Through UC-HIPACC, attendance funding will be offered for participants, including travel and lodging. Funds will be preferentially distributed to students and the level of individual support will depend on demand. If you are interested in attending, please fill out this very short form: http://goo.gl/ZDfFvI. If you have questions or concerns about the workshop, please feel free to contact the organizers at workshop2014 at yt-project.org.
AccessComputing Summer Undergraduate Research Experience
Application Deadline – March 15, 2014
For the fifth year in a row, the NSF-funded AccessComputing Alliance is pleased to announce the availability of funds to support undergraduate research students with disabilities during the summer. Please let your undergraduate students know about these opportunities and have them fill out the application form at the website: https://catalyst.uw.edu/webq/survey/blaser/224098. Students interested in an internship should also apply to be an AccessComputing team member by filling out the application at http://www.washington.edu/accesscomputing/team_app.html. If you know of a faculty member who is interested in having a student with a disability as a summer research intern, please contact Richard Ladner at ladner@cs.washington.edu. To enhance the research experience we are working in cooperation with the CRA-W DREU program where students and mentors will join that program to help enrich the research experience.
Structural View of HIV/AIDS: A Video Challenge for High School Students
Submission Deadline - May 31, 2014
The RCSB PDB invites you to participate in a video challenge where you can create short videos that tell a story about HIV/AIDS using molecules from the PDB archive. Create a brief video (two-minutes or less) focused on any topic related to the structural biology of HIV/AIDS, such as:
■ The partial or complete life cycle of HIV
■ HIV vs the human immune system–presenting the scenario
of what likely happens in an individual upon exposure to HIV
■ HIV testing–to detect infection and as a follow-up during
anti-HIV treatment
■ Anti-HIV treatment options and the challenges of drug resistance
■ HIV vaccines ■ HIV and cancer ■ Any other aspects of HIV/AIDS of interest
The video must include visualization/animation of two or more molecular structures from the PDB to illustrate the HIV/AIDS story that you are telling. All images, animations and narrative used in the video should be original, used with permission, or available for reuse under a Creative Commons license. Find molecules related to HIV: rcsb.org Educational materials and challenge guidelines: www.rcsb.org/pdb-101. Questions? info@rcsb.org
5th Annual Dare to be Digital Conference
March 1, 2014 - Sunnyvale, California
The Dare 2B Digital Conference aims to improve gender diversity in computing by demonstrating what works and inspiring young women to succeed in tech careers. Young women in grades 7-10 will learn what it takes to be a designer, software engineer, digital animator, or mobile app developer through interactive workshops led by role models and mentors, all while having fun with their friends. Educators are invited to attend the conference and participate in a special track with tech employers, parents, students, educational policy makers, college counselors and members of the media. By working to close the gender gap in tech, D2BD is creating an ecosystem that supports exciting and creative careers for young women and a competitive and innovative workforce. To learn about Dare 2B Digital and the partner programs and resources that inspire and encourage girls in tech, please visit http://www.dare2bdigitalconference.com/.
App Inventor Launches Second Iteration
MIT News
The MIT App Inventor is the basis for more than 3 million projects, and its second iteration was released late last year in conjunction with Computer Science Education Week. The App Inventor is a joint effort of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Media Lab and the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, and it enables anyone to construct an Android phone app using a Web browser and either a connected phone or an emulator. "It's huge for anyone with a smartphone who has wanted to use some app but has not been able to find it," notes the MIT Center for Mobile Learning's Josh Sheldon. App Inventor 2 trumps the previous version by being completely operable from the browser, and no longer requiring users to install and run a Java file. Whereas App Inventor 1 currently has 1.3 million users who have built 3.2 million apps with it, App Inventor 2 has 100,000 users who have built 140,000 apps, according to the Center for Mobile Learning's Hal Abelson. To read further, please visit http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2013/app-inventor-launches-second-iteration.html.
NASA OSSI -- Summer 2014 Research Opportunities
Applications Deadline - March 1, 2014.
The NASA One Stop Shopping Initiative, or OSSI, strives to provide high school students and undergraduate and graduate students at all institutions of higher education access to a portfolio of internship, fellowship and scholarship opportunities offered by NASA mission directorates and centers. Visit the Office of Education Infrastructure Division LaunchPad to find information on internship, fellowship and scholarship opportunities. The site features the OSSI online application for recruiting NASA Interns, Fellows and Scholars, or NIFS. This innovative system allows students to search and apply for all types of higher-education NASA internship, fellowship and scholarship opportunities in one location. A single application places the student in the applicant pool for consideration by all NASA mentors. To find available opportunities and to fill out an OSSI online application for recruiting NIFS, visit https://intern.nasa.gov/index.html.
Chart: The top tech companies for internships
GeekWire
It’s that time of year when college students start perusing internship opportunities. And to make the process a bit easier, Glassdoor has released a list of the 25 highest rated companies which are hiring interns this year. It also put together the map above showing where internships are geographically located right now. Thirteen tech companies make the list, including Facebook and Google which led the group. (Of course, Google should be in the mix given that its internship program was the source of a comedy starring Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson). Three Seattle companies made the list: Microsoft (#7), Nordstrom (#24) and Amazon (#25). The list was created based on intern feedback over the past year. For further information, please visit http://www.geekwire.com/2014/chart-top-tech-companies-internships/.
2014 NASA Unmanned Aerial Systems Challenge
Notice of Intent Due – March 1, 2014
NASA invites college teams to take part in the 2014 NASA Aeronautics Mission Directorate's Unmanned Aerial Systems Challenge. Students are invited to propose a high-altitude, long-endurance unmanned aerial system to track hurricanes. Design assessment will be based on projected effectiveness, cost, innovation and ease of use and operation inside the National Air Space. The contest is open to teams of full-time students enrolled in higher education institutions of the United States or its territories. This category includes universities, colleges, trade schools, community colleges, professional schools, etc. Multidisciplinary teams are encouraged. For more information and a complete list of rules, visit http://aero.larc.nasa.gov/university-contest/. Questions about the challenge should be directed to Elizabeth Ward at Elizabeth.B.Ward@nasa.gov.
On the Lighter Side – Computational Science News on the Edge
XPrize Opens $2 Million Contest for Oceanic Health
Early Registration Deadline – March 31, 2014
Silicon Valley Business Journal
The Wendy Schmidt Ocean Health XPrize competition has opened registration for a contest where participants develop new technologies to track oceanic health. Teams compete in a 22-month contest for a $2 million prize to create a new generation of ocean pH sensor technology that could transform the way scientists understand ocean acidification. Technologies that emerge from XPrize will study and monitor ocean acidification and how it impacts marine ecosystems, enabling industries from fisheries to marine managers to anticipate, adapt and mitigate changes in ocean chemistry, according to a statement. For more information, including registration information, please visit http://www.bizjournals.com/sanjose/news/2014/02/11/xprize-opens-signup-for-2-million.html.
Google: Compute Engine Plays Nice With Open Source
eWeek
Google is working to educate developers about the compatibility of its Compute Engine platform with a variety of open source applications. "Google provides a general set of client APIs for accessing Compute Engine, as well as other Google services," notes Google's Eric Johnson. "However, you may have code or applications written against another language API that makes updating to Google's client APIs questionable." In these situations, open source applications such as Ruby, Python, and Java can be considered with Google Compute Engine, Johnson notes. To automate configuration management of their Compute Engine instances, developers can use configuration management tools. In addition, several open source projects support Compute Engine, such as CoreOS and Docker, which enable the use of Linux containers. In the past few months, Google has sought to help developers find new capabilities and uses for Google Compute Engine. To read further, please visit http://www.eweek.com/cloud/google-compute-engine-plays-nice-with-open-source.html
