HPC Happenings

NSF Announces Two New Expeditions in Computing Awards

The National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Directorate for Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CISE) today announced two new Expeditions in Computing awards, providing each selected project team $10 million in funding over five years, representing the single largest investments made by the directorate in basic computing research. Established in 2008, Expeditions awards provide, “the CISE research and education community with the opportunity to pursue ambitious, fundamental research agendas that promise to define the future of computing and information.” For more information, please visit http://www.cccblog.org/2013/09/17/nsf-announces-two-new-expeditions-in-computing-awards/.

National Science Foundation Appoints new Division Director for the Division of Computing and Communications Foundations

Late last month, Dr. Farnam Jahanian, Assistant Director of the National Science Foundation (NSF), announced the appointment of Dr. Rao Kosaraju as the new Division Director for the Computing and Communications Foundations (CCF) Division within the Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CISE) Directorate. For more information, please visit http://www.cccblog.org/2013/08/30/national-science-foundation-appoints-new-division-director-for-the-division-of-computing-and-communications-foundations/.

Of Interest

The Masters of Uncertainty: The Bayesian Future of Supercomputing (Video Interview)
HPCwire

According to Dr. Houman Owhadi and Dr. Clint Scovel, both from the California Institute of Technology, Bayesian methods are becoming more prevalent as high performance computing advances continue. In this special audio-based feature interview, HPCwire talks with both about what these methods will contribute to a number of research and enterprise endeavors, what computational requirements exist as we move toward more advanced questions, and how the field is evolving—and will continue to evolve with exascale (or even quantum) class systems. For more information and to view the video, please visit http://www.hpcwire.com/hpcwire/2013-09-13/the_masters_of_uncertainty.html?featured=top&goback=.gde_4178444_member_273419502#!.

SHE++: the documentary

Between 2000 and 2009, there was a 79 percent drop in the number of first-year undergraduate women considering computer science, even as products such as Facebook, Twitter, Angry Birds, etc. began making technology 'cool' again. And so, we have been told, time and time again, we need more women in technology. But we're not entirely convinced by the op-eds and panel discussions. Is there really a difference? The greatest technology companies of our time -- Apple, Google, and Facebook -- have been successfully founded and run by men. And they seem to be doing a pretty good job. she++: The Documentary (12 min: TV-14 DL) energetically proclaims 'Hello, World' after following smart, creative, and trailblazing technologists hard at work in hi-tech. This short documentary collects research and inspirational pieces of Silicon Valley's unsung heroes to galvanize us to explore our potential as 'femgineers'. Written and directed by recent Stanford University good girls gone geek, Ayna Agarwal and Ellora Israni, she++: The Documentary encourages the future CEOs, the innovative engineers, the techies and the fuzzies, the sisters, cousins, and daughters, to break away from the stereotype into a revolutionary field. As technology is becoming increasingly ubiquitous, all demographics must harness new ideas to transform and empower technology. Think of what more 'femgineers' could do.  For more information and to view the documentary, please visit http://sheplusplus.stanford.edu/film/index.php.

HPC Conference Call for Participation

First Annual ACM Conference on Learning at Scale - Call for Submissions
March 4-5, 2014 – Atlanta, Georg
Paper and Poster Submission Deadline – November 8, 2013

The first annual meeting of the ACM Conference on Learning at Scale 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, please visit http://learningatscale.acm.org/.

Calling for Proposals: Creating Visions for Computing Research
Submission Deadline – December 1, 2013

In accordance with the mission, Computing Community Consortium is issuing a new call for proposals for workshops that will create exciting visions and agendas for research at the frontiers of computing.
From the solicitation:
Successful workshops will articulate new research visions, galvanize community interest in those visions, and mobilize support for those visions from the computing research community, government leaders, and funding agencies…Proposals are encouraged across the full spectrum of theoretical and applied work related to the creation and application of information technologies as well as their use in addressing important scientific or societal challenges…Budgets can range in size from $10,000 to as much as $200,000, depending on the size and scope of effort that will be supported. Examples of past visioning activities funded by the CCC cover a broad range of computer and information science and engineering topics, such as Online Education, Health IT, Spatial Computing, and Disaster Management (see the full set of funded activities http://cra.org/ccc/visioning/visioning-activities).  For more information, please visit http://www.cccblog.org/2013/09/06/calling-for-proposals-creating-visions-for-computing-research/. To see the full call for proposals, please visit http://cra.org/ccc/visioning/creating-visions-for-computing-research.

Upcoming Conferences, Workshops and Webinars

XSEDE Scholar Webinar: Mentoring and Being Mentored: Mastering the Art of Professional Relationships and Leading Your Professional Development
September 25, 2013 -  10:00am (PST)/ 12:00PM (CST)/ 1:00PM (EST)

We are often told to succeed in our field, find a mentor. Mentors often provide personal and professional direction, suggestions and support for advancement in our chosen career path. This is one characterization of what a good mentor does. Yet, while we may be able to describe what good mentoring relationships look like, building these relationships is less a function of following a manual than it is an art. Even with well pre-scribed steps for being a good mentor or mentee, each relationship is a unique creation of the people involved and their professional setting. In this webinar, we will look at the creative opportunities and challenges involved in building these professional relationships and what it means to provide leadership within them. To register, please visit https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dC1CamdnX1NwM3BGQURnaVNENFhrVEE6MA#gid=0.

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?.

ACM 6th Workshop on Many-Task Computing on Clouds, Grids, and Supercomputers (MTAGS) 2013 @ SC13
November 17, 2013 – Denver, Colorado

The 6th workshop on Many-Task Computing on Grids and Supercomputers (MTAGS) will provide the scientific community a dedicated forum for presenting new research, development, and deployment efforts of large-scale many-task computing (MTC) applications on large scale clusters, Grids, Supercomputers, and Cloud Computing infrastructure. MTC, the theme of the workshop encompasses loosely coupled applications, which are generally composed of many tasks (both independent and dependent tasks) to achieve some larger application goal.  This workshop will cover challenges that can hamper efficiency and utilization in running applications on large-scale systems, such as local resource manager scalability and granularity, efficient utilization of raw hardware, parallel file system contention and scalability, data management, I/O management, reliability at scale, and application scalability. We welcome paper submissions on all theoretical, simulations, and systems topics related to MTC, but we give special consideration to papers addressing petascale to exascale challenges. Papers will be peer-reviewed, and accepted papers will be published in the workshop proceedings as part of the ACM digital library (pending approval). The workshop will be co-located with the IEEE/ACM Supercomputing 2013 Conference. For more information and submission guidelines, please visit http://sc13.supercomputing.org/schedule/event_detail.php?evid=wksp135.

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.

Research Features From Across the Country and Around the World

Swiss Research House Outfits Cray XC30 with GPU Boosters

The Swiss National Supercomputing Centre (CSCS) is rolling out the second half of its Cray XC30 supercomputer, the first to employ both Intel Xeon processors and NVIDA GPUs. With phase one up and running since April, "Piz Daint" is getting a power boost from NVIDIA GPUs, which not only provide CSCS researchers with more computing power – over a petaflops worth – but are also helping to scale back energy requirements. To read further, please visit http://www.hpcwire.com/hpcwire/2013-09-11/swiss_research_house_outfits_cray_xc30_with_gpu_boosters.html.

The Math-Supercomputing Connection: An Interview with Berkeley Lab’s David Brown

The Berkeley Lab website recently published a short "five-question" interview with David Brown, the director of the Computational Research Division at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) since August 2011. Mathematics, according to Brown, is the foundation of modern computer science. Brown explains that when he made the move to Lawrence Livermore National Lab, he was able to "apply his knowledge of math and science to the development and oversight of new research opportunities for scientists and mathematicians at that lab and throughout the DOE." Brown's passion for the field laid the groundwork for an extensive research program in applied mathematics at Berkeley Lab. To read further, please visit http://www.hpcwire.com/hpcwire/2013-09-17/the_math-supercomputing_connection.html.

Cray Snaps Together Shared Memory Story
HPCwire

Large shared memory systems are often a novelty and some, including the well-known SGI Altix UV1000 “Blacklight” system at PSC, for instance, have received a great deal of attention due to their ability to address specific high performance computing workloads. While Blacklight and similar large coherent shared memory systems are driven by hardware-based approaches to creating unified approaches, Cray veered off at the software fork, deciding to create similarly focused systems at the software level.  This morning they announced two different pre-configured setups on their Cray CS300 systems that will make room for workloads that have a need for larger memory within a single operating system instance. To read further, please visit http://www.hpcwire.com/hpcwire/2013-09-17/cray_snaps_together_shared_memory_story.html?featured=top&goback=.gde_4178444_member_274276210#!.

Stanford Expert Says Internet's Backbone Can Readily Be Made More Sustainable
Stanford Report

The U.S. Department of Energy recently announced that it wants to establish minimum energy efficiency standards for all computers and servers sold in the United States, after a new Stanford University study found that large server farms can cut electricity use and greenhouse gas emissions by 88 percent with off-the-shelf equipment and proven energy management practices. The carbon emissions generated by large data centers are related to the computing efficiency of IT equipment, the amount of electricity the data center's building uses for things other than computing, and how much of the center's electricity comes from renewable or low-carbon sources. "Of these three, improving the efficiency of the IT devices is overwhelmingly the most important," says Stanford professor Jonathan Koomey. To read further, please visit http://news.stanford.edu/news/2013/july/servers-energy-efficiency-071913.html.

U of Chicago Researcher Combines Computer Science, Statistics Creates Machines That Can Learn
UChicago News `````````````

University of Chicago professor John Lafferty focuses on theories and algorithms that enhance machine learning. "Computer science is becoming more focused on data rather than computation, and modern statistics requires more computational sophistication to work with large data sets," he observes. "Machine learning draws on and pushes forward both of these disciplines." Lafferty’s work targets the development of computer programs that can extract knowledge from large volumes of numbers, text, audio, or video with little or no human intervention, and make predictions and decisions about events that have not been coded in its instructions. Lafferty studies modern data sets, such as those in genomics that are frequently "short and wide," which feature few subjects and tens of thousands of variables. The aim is to differentiate relevant factors from irrelevant ones to make statistical analysis possible. To read further, please visit http://news.uchicago.edu/article/2013/07/16/combining-computer-science-statistics-creates-machines-can-learn.

Educator Opportunities and Information

New Mexico State University Camp Aims to Spark Girls' Interest in Computer Science
Las Cruces Sun-News

New Mexico State University this summer offered its Young Women in Computing program, with the goal of encouraging more women to enter the field of computer science. In four sessions coordinated by the university's computer science department, the program teaches participants coding skills and offers training on a range of software platforms and programs. "Diversity is critical in every field, and women currently only make up 18 percent of all computing industry fields in the U.S.," says program coordinator Becca Galves. "Girls and women are avid users of technology but severely underrepresented in its creation. Technology increasingly permeates every aspect of society and provides the foundation for most modern innovation. Girls' lack of participation in this important and growing area has serious consequences, not only for them but for the future of technical innovations." Young Women in Computing began in 2006 with funding from the U.S. National Science Foundation, and has reached 5,000 young women in over 150 workshops and sessions. In addition, the program has sponsored 23 teams in competitions and paid for 30 women to attend conferences. To read further, please visit http://www.lcsun-news.com/las_cruces-news/ci_23733678/nmsu-camp-aims-spark-girls-interest-computer-science.

The MOOC That Roared at Georgia Tech

Georgia Institute of Technology has announced plans to offer a low-cost version of its computer science master’s degree through massive open online courses (MOOCs), in a move that could transform the higher education landscape. The MOOC-based program will cost $6,600, while the on-campus computer science master’s degree costs about $45,000 in tuition for out-of-state students and $21,000 for Georgia residents. Top-tier universities have made courses available through MOOCs, but have been reluctant to offer diplomas for the programs. In addition, many universities offer online degree programs, but they are priced at the same level. Georgia Tech's program, offered in conjunction with Udacity, is intended to be as reputable as the university's traditional computer science degree program, which U.S News and World Report ranks among the nation's top 10. The program is likely to pressure universities, especially mid-tier schools, to reduce prices to compete. To read further, please visit http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/technology/2013/07/georgia_tech_s_computer_science_mooc_the_super_cheap_master_s_degree_that.html.

Congressional Panels Rejects STEM Reshuffling Plan
Science

Several congressional panels have rejected the Obama administration's plan to significantly realign the federal government's $3-billion annual budget for programs focused on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education at 13 agencies. The Senate Appropriations Committee joined other congressional panels in questioning the White House's proposed STEM realignment, as it approved a 2014 spending bill covering the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the Commerce Department, and the National Science Foundation (NSF). The committee said the realignment proposal had not received adequate input from the education community, congressional authorizing committees, or the federal agencies involved. The administration's suggestion to form lead STEM agencies has not been proven viable, the committee says. To read further, please visit http://news.sciencemag.org/funding/2013/07/congressional-panels-dump-stem-reshuffling-plan?ref=em.

Creasing Equity and Diversity in the STEM Workforce: Issues and Strategies
September 26, 2013 - 11:00am - 12:00pm PST  (webinar)

Online-Connection Details Provided upon Registration In this webinar, participants will gain a better understanding of the issues that impede efforts to diversify the STEM workforce and learn strategies that can promote equity, fairness, and diversity in their programs and professional interactions as role models. Dr. Kimberly Tanner, Director of the Science Education Partnership and Assessment Laboratory (SEPAL), will present findings from research on why talented individuals leave the biological sciences, as well as examples of successful efforts and problematic attempts towards diversifying the biological sciences. Kimberly Bryant, Founder of BlackGirlsCode, will present information on the racial and socioeconomic digital divide and resources for computer science programs. For more information and to register, please visit http://www.ngcproject.org/increasing-equity-and-diversity-stem-workforce-understanding-issues-and-strategies-addressing-it. For questions, please send email to Anne Ward at anne.ward@aia-aerospace.org.

BirdBrain Technologies Offers 1000 Robots for CSEdWeek

As part of this year's CSEdWeek, BirdBrain Technologies is offering to loan out 1,000 Finch robots for use by school districts. BirdBrain will provide a detailed, one-hour activity for students to program the Finch robot with Snap! Their goal is to catalyze coding and computer science learning experiences for students who might not ordinarily have the opportunity to program a robot as part of their typical classroom experience.  The company is currently looking to partner with school districts. We have an open application form collecting responses until October 4th. If you know folks at schools/districts who might like to participate, please have them apply at http://bit.ly/1000robotsapplication. For more information, eligibility, program requirements and to complete an application, please visit http://www.finchrobot.com/one-thousand-robots.

Student Engagement and Information

ACM Doctoral Dissertation Award
Nomination Deadline – October 31, 2013

ACM established the Doctoral Dissertation Award program to recognize and encourage superior research and writing by doctoral candidates in computer science and engineering. Each nominated dissertation must have been successfully defended (not deposit date) by the department between October of the previous year  and September of the nominating year. Exceptional dissertations completed in September 2012, but too late for submission last year will be considered. We hope that the nominated dissertation is a finalized version. If a student thinks that his/her dissertation is competitive after revising and improving, he/she can and should postpone the dissertation defense. Only English language versions will be accepted. For submission guidelines, please visit http://awards.acm.org/doctoral_dissertation/nominations.cfm.

AutoDesk 123D Design Contest
Submission Deadline - October 21, 2013
Open to students ages 13-18

Think you can design the next amazing product? Enter the Autodesk® 123D® Design Challenge, apply your inventive skills, and you could win cool prizes and earn bragging rights among thousands of students! To enter, simply reimagine an existing product or design a new one that can take the world by storm. Use the easy and powerful Autodesk® 123D® Design app to model your innovation, then show off your skills by creating an Instructables® project and posting it here. We dare you … are you up to the challenge? For more information, please visit http://www.instructables.com/contest/123ddesignchallenge.

M2M Challenge
Submission Deadline - November 30, 2013
Open to all

The M2M Challenge innovation competition is going into the second round. First launched in 2012, it has already proven to be the leading M2M award worldwide. Contestants from 44 countries and more than 200 participants demonstrated the huge innovation potential in the world of machine-to-machine communication. The global leading competition is recognizing new and revolutionary m2m solutions in the categories of Energy, Mobility, Security, Healthcare, and Consumer Electronics & More.  It will draw the interest of developers, researchers and companies and broaden the network of contributors and potential customers. For more information, please visit http://m2m-challenge.com/.

Faculty Opportunities

Computing Community Consortium Launching New Postdoc Best Practices Program with Funding Opportunities

Developing new talent to carry out high impact research is of paramount importance to the Computer Science & Engineering research enterprise.  An appointment as a postdoctoral researcher is an increasingly common starting point for a research career.  The National Science Foundation (NSF) Computer & Information Science and Engineering (CISE) Directorate and the Computing Community Consortium (CCC) recognize the critical importance in having an excellent postdoc training experience to help junior researchers advance their careers. With NSF’s backing, the CCC is announcing a program to develop, implement and institutionalize the implementation of best practices for supporting postdocs. This program will award grants to institutions or consortia of institutions to implement best practices for strengthening the postdoc experience in computer science and computing-related fields.  These supporting programs will enable PhD graduates to transition effectively to research roles in a variety of sectors. For more information, please visit http://www.cccblog.org/2013/09/09/ccc-launching-new-postdoc-best-practices-program-with-funding-opportunities/.

On the Lighter Side - Computational News of Interest

Robot Mom Would Beat Robot Butler in Popularity Contest
Penn State Live

Pennsylvania State University (PSU) researchers have found that people express more positive feelings toward a robot that takes care of them than toward a robot that needs care. "How the robot is presented to users can send important signals to users about its helpfulness and intelligence, which can have consequences for how it is received by end users," says PSU professor S. Shyam Sundar. The researchers observed 60 interactions between college students and a social robot called Nao. The participants either helped Nao calibrate its eyes, or the robot could examine the participants' eyes and make suggestions to improve their vision. The participants then answered questions about their feelings toward Nao. To read further, please visit http://news.psu.edu/story/280987/2013/07/08/research/robot-mom-would-beat-robot-butler-popularity-contest/

How Computer Analysis Uncovered J. K. Rowling's Secret Novel
Popular Science

Duquesne University professor Patrick Juola used computer analysis to determine that Harry Potter creator J.K. Rowling wrote "The Cuckoo's Calling." The novel, purportedly written by first-time author Robert Gailbraith, was the subject of speculation over its authorship. After the computer analysis was presented to Rowling, she admitted to writing the novel. To conduct his analysis, Juola compared digital copies of "The Cuckoo's Calling" with other Rowling novels, as well as with works written by three different authors. The analysis looked for four writing habits that are considered strong indicators of authorship to determine which author matched most closely. The program analyzed each book's distribution of word lengths, 100 most common words, pairs of words frequently used together, and groups of four characters called four-grams that include letters, spaces, and punctuation. Rowling came up most frequently in the tests as the likely author, although the analysis is not considered conclusive. This type of analysis could provide significant evidence of authorship of historical texts, contested court documents, and other written works. To read further, please visit http://www.popsci.com/technology/article/2013-07/how-computer-algorithms-uncovered-j-k-rowlings-pseudonymous-novel.

Google Searches Mined to Uncover Our True Opinions
New Scientist

Google Trends is a Web tool designed for tracking what terms Google users are searching for in a given period. The anonymized, aggregated data is compiled from 100 billion searches every month, and can be broken down by geographic region. Researchers now are turning the Google lens on more difficult issues, some of which are invisible to conventional polls, says economist Seth Stephens-Davidowitz. For example, Stephens-Davidowitz analyzed Google searches and voting patterns in the United States to measure the extent to which racism hurt Barack Obama in the 2008 presidential election. He found that the states with the highest rates of racist-themed searches were ones in which Obama underperformed in the election, and concluded that racism alone cost Obama three to five per cent of the total vote. To read further, please visit http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn23934-google-searches-mined-to-uncover-our-true-opinions.html#.UjnMjbxEvDl.