XSEDE Happenings

User Support — Key to TACC's Success
An article by Chris Hempel, Director of User Services, TACC

The advanced computing systems at the Texas Advanced Computing Center — as well as the other 16 centers that make up XSEDE — are an incredible resource to scientists across the country. Any researcher at any U.S. college or university — no matter how big or small, or where it is located — is eligible to apply for time on massive supercomputers like Ranger or Lonestar, or special-purpose visualization or data storage resources like Longhorn or Corral. Access to such systems allows scientists to speed up their research by orders of magnitude; address problems at a scale previously unachievable; and ask entirely new questions that could not be asked before. To read further, please visit http://www.tacc.utexas.edu/newsletter/1208/user-support.

Upcoming Conferences and Workshops

First International Conference on Space, Time, and CyberGIS (CyberGIS'12)
August 6-9, 2012 – Urbana-Champaign, Illinois

The First International Conference on Space, Time, and CyberGIS (CyberGIS'12) aims to bring together researchers, educators, and practitioners for sharing and synergistically advancing the state of the art of CyberGIS and Space-Time Analysis/Modeling/Synthesis; and to foster international collaboration and cooperation in this area. The CyberInfrastructure and Geospatial Information Laboratory (CIGI: http://cigi.illinois.edu) and National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA: http://ncsa.illinois.edu) will host the conference on the campus of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. CIGI researches and develops cutting-edge cyberinfrastructure to advance geospatial sciences and technologies while NCSA has been a world leader in advancing and supporting cyberinfrastructure, and in particular high-performance computing and scientific visualization, for more than 25 years. For more information and to register, please visit http://www.cigi.illinois.edu/cybergis12/index.php

SDSC Summer Institute: Big Data Supercomputing
August 6-10, 2012 – La Jolla, California

SDSC is expanding upon its successful Gordon Summer Institute program to include both its Gordon and Trestles supercomputers. This is a unique opportunity for participants to focus on specific challenges in their research, such as optimizing a computationally intensive piece of code to make the best use of SDSC’s HPC resources. Current/potential users of SDSC resources are invited to apply. Experience working in a UNIX/Linux environment is essential. The registration fee is $150. Scholarships available to cover on-campus room and board for participants from U.S. academic and non-profit institutions, but not travel to or from the UC San Diego campus.  For more information, please visit http://www.sdsc.edu/Events/summerinstitute/.

HUBbub 2012: The HUBzero Conference
September 24-25, 2012 – Indianapolis, Indiana

HUBzero is a platform for creating web sites that support scientific research, education, and collaboration. Released as open source during HUBbub 2010 and a new version being released this year at HUBbub 2011, the HUBzero Platform is the basis of nanoHUB.org and 25 other sites, delivering hundreds of scientific tools and seminars to more than 450,000 visitors each year. HUBzero is supported by a consortium of universities including Purdue, Indiana, Clemson, and Wisconsin. See how the unique HUBzero solution has empowered a wide spectrum of projects in nanotechnology, healthcare research, and other areas of engineering and science. Learn through hands-on tutorials how to set up your own hub using HUBzero's open source software, how to create and publish scientific tools on your hub, how to connect the tools to computing clusters and other Grid resources, and how to add new capabilities to the platform For more information and to register, go to: http://hubzero.org/hubbub.

Workshop on Managing Systems Automatically and Dynamically (MAD)
At the USENIX Symposium on Operating Systems Design and Implementation (OSDI October 8-10, 2012 – Hollywood, California

The complexity of modern systems makes them extremely challenging to manage. From highly heterogeneous desktop environments to large-scale systems that consist of many thousands of software and hardware components, these systems exhibit a wide range of complex behaviors are difficult to predict. As such, although raw computational capability of these systems grows each year, much of it is lost to (i) complex failures that are difficult to localize and (ii) to poor performance and efficiency that results from system configuration that is inappropriate for the user’s workload. The MAD workshop focuses on techniques to make complex systems manageable, addressing the problem’s three major aspects: For more information please visit http://www.linkedin.com/groupAnswers?viewQuestionAndAnswers=&discussionID=132162306&gid=4178444&trk=eml-anet_dig-b_nd-pst_ttle-cn&ut=377CZVOKV4n5k1.

8th IEEE International Conference on eScience
October 8-12, 2012 – Chicago, Illinois

Researchers in all disciplines are increasingly adopting digital tools, techniques and practices, often in communities and projects that span disciplines, laboratories, organizations, and national boundaries. The eScience 2012 conference is designed to bring together leading international and interdisciplinary research communities, developers, and users of eScience applications and enabling IT technologies. The conference serves as a forum to present the results of the latest applications research and product/tool developments and to highlight related activities from around the world. Also, we are now entering the second decade of eScience and the 2012 conference gives an opportunity to take stock of what has been achieved so far and look forward to the challenges and opportunities the next decade will bring. A special emphasis of the 2012 conference is on advances in the application of technology in a particular discipline. Accordingly, significant advances in applications science and technology will be considered as important as the development of new technologies themselves. Further, we welcome contributions in educational activities under any of these disciplines. For more information, please visit http://www.ci.uchicago.edu/escience2012/

SACNAS
October 11-14, 2012 - Seattle, Washington
Registration Deadline – September 12, 2012

The 2012 SACNAS National Conference "Science, Technology, and Diversity for a Healthy World" will take place in Seattle, Washington. Join over 3,500 attendees for four days of scientific research presentations, professional development, networking, exhibits, culture, and community. One of the largest annual gatherings of minority scientists in the country, the interdisciplinary, inclusive, and interactive SACNAS National Conference motivates and inspires. For more information and to register, please visit https://sacnas.org/civicrm/event/info?reset=1&id=42.

Exhibitor Information: http://sacnas.org/institutions/exhibiting

EDUCAUSE
November 6-9, 2012 - Denver, Colorado

The EDUCAUSE Annual Conference is the premiere gathering for higher education IT professionals. It provides content and exploration of today's toughest technology issues facing campuses around the world, and convenes some of the brightest minds in the community. When colleagues from around the world converge with some of the most innovative corporate solution providers, you have an event that creates invaluable networking opportunities and professional development. For more information, please visit http://www.educause.edu/annual-conference.

Agenda: http://www.educause.edu/annual-conference/agenda-and-program

Registration Information: http://www.educause.edu/annual-conference/register-now

Exhibitor Information: http://www.educause.edu/annual-conference/exhibitor

SC12
November 10-16, 2012 -  Salt Lake City, Utah
Exhibition - November 12-15, 2012

For 24 years, SC has been at the forefront in gathering the best and brightest minds in supercomputing together, with our unparalleled technical papers, tutorials, posters and speakers. SC12 will take a major step forward not only in supercomputing, but in super-conferencing, with everything designed to make the 2012 conference the most ‘you' friendly conference in the world. We're streamlining conference information and moving to a virtually real-time method of determining technical program thrusts. No more pre-determined technical themes picked far in advance. Through social media, data mining, and active polling, we'll see which technical interests and issues emerge throughout the year, and focus on the ones that interest you the most. For more information and to register, please visit http://sc12.supercomputing.org/content/exhibitor-prospectus.

XSEDE Training at a Glance

SDSC Supercomputing Summer Institute
August 6-10, 2012 – La Jolla, California
For more information, please visit http://www.sdsc.edu/Events/summerinstitute/index.html.

The 2012 Pab Lab Boot Camp – Short Course on Parallel Programming
August 17, 2012 – webinar
For more information, please visit https://www.xsede.org/web/xup/course-calendar/-/training/class/47.

Python Boot Camp 2012
August 20-22, 2012 – UC Berkeley
For more information, please visit http://register.pythonbootcamp.info/.

For a complete list of past and future XSEDE training opportunities, please visit https://www.xsede.org/web/xup/course-calendar.

Research Features from Across XSEDE and Campus Champion Partners

TACC Is Mapping the Future of Climate Change in Africa

Researchers at the Texas Advanced Computing Center (TACC) are working on the Climate Change and African Political Stability (CCAPS) program, which features an online mapping tool that analyzes how climate and other factors interact to threaten the security of African communities. "The first goal was to look at whether we could more effectively identify what were the causes and locations of vulnerability in Africa, not just climate, but other kinds of vulnerability," says University of Texas at Austin professor Francis J. Gavin. CCAPS consists of nine research teams focusing on different aspects of climate change, their relationship to different types of conflict, the government structures that exist to mitigate them, and the effectiveness of international aid in intervening. The researchers, led by University of Texas at Austin professor Joshua Busby, examined four different sources and then combined them to form a composite map.  To read further, please visit http://www.tacc.utexas.edu/news/feature-stories/2012/ccaps.

Campus Champion Michigan State University Relieves Logjams in Big Data Sets

Michigan State University (MSU) researchers have developed a computational technique that relieves logjams that commonly occur in big data sets. The researchers note that microbial communities' genomic data is easy to collect, but the data sets are so large that they can overwhelm conventional computers. "To thoroughly examine a gram of soil, we need to generate about 50 terabases of genomic sequence--about 1,000 times more data than generated for the initial human genome project," says MSU professor C. Titus Brown. He notes the strategy is unique in that it was created using small computers rather than supercomputers, which is the usual approach for bioinformatics research. The method utilizes a filter that folds the data set up using a special data structure, which enables computers to analyze small portions of the data at a time. To read further, please visit http://news.msu.edu/story/massive-data-for-miniscule-communities/

Argonne National Laboratory Replaces Supercomputer With Newer, Faster Model

Argonne National Laboratory recently started accepting applications from scientists that want to use its new Mira supercomputer, which is ranked the third fastest in the world and has 768,000 core processors and operates at more than eight petaflops. Mira's initial applications include studying the quantum mechanics of new materials, measuring the role and impact of clouds on climate, and modeling earthquakes. Those and 13 other projects are part of Argonne's Early Science Program and are intended advance science, as well as evaluate Mira's performance, according to Argonne's Mike Papka. "A new architecture with a new system software stack, and at a scale that is larger than anyone else has run previously, results in a system that will have issues never seen before," Papka says. To read further, please visit http://www.informationweek.com/government/enterprise-applications/national-lab-replaces-supercomputer-with/240004607.

European Union Offers Big Data at Your Service


The growing use of information and communication technology is generating vast volumes of structured and unstructured data that present an opportunity that European Union (EU) research initiatives are seeking to take advantage of by promoting open data. For example, the EU-funded Weknowit project, also called emerging, collective intelligence for personal, organizational, and social use, has devised a platform for converting unstructured user-produced content into a new collective intelligence with many uses. Project coordinator Yiannis Kompatsiaris says the platform includes "meaningful topics, entities, points of interest, social connections, and events." Projects that could benefit scientific research include the data infrastructures ecosystem for science effort, which has developed an interoperable framework to enable the sharing of different e-infrastructures' computing and software resources irrespective of location, format, technology, language, protocol, or workflow. To read further, please visit http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/newsroom/cf/dae/itemdetail.cfm?item_id=8337&utm_campaign=isp&utm_medium=rss&utm_source=newsroom&utm_content=type-news.

Educator News and Curriculum

Stanford's Hottest Major: Computer Science

More than 220 Stanford University students, in a class of about 1,700, chose computer science as their major last year, a 25 percent increase from the previous record in 2000-2001, according to a Stanford School of Engineering report. The increase in computer science students at Stanford follows a major restructuring of the program over the past several years. The new program includes six courses that provide a foundation, which is built on a series of tracks that students can choose from in order to focus on their own personal interests. The tracks include artificial intelligence, systems, theory, graphics, and human-computer interaction. To read further, please visit http://www.paloaltoonline.com/news/show_story.php?id=26295.

Math and Science Fields Battle Persistent Gender Gap


Many colleges that specialize in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields have taken steps to increase female enrollment by creating opportunities for women to direct their studies to applications that appeal to them. For example, Harvey Mudd College recently overhauled a required introductory computer science course to allow students more choice in how they apply principles being covered. "Seeing the applications of computing to society is really important [for women], and seeing applications of computing to things they use in their day-to-day lives is important," notes Harvey Mudd's Ran Libeskind-Hadas. Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) has placed more emphasis on team-based projects that solve global problems such as irrigation and health care. To read further, please visit http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/story/2012-07-23/math-science-gender-gap/56669934/1.

HPC Educators Applications for Travel Support
Web Submissions: https://submissions.supercomputing.org
Email Contacts: hpceducators@info.supercomputing.org
Application Opened: June 1, 2012
Application Deadline: August 15, 2012
Conditional Notification: August 22, 2012

Learn from and interact with internationally recognized experts teaching undergraduate and early career students in all areas of computational science and engineering, computer science and engineering, high performance computing, networking, and storage.

Competitive grants are available to support travel to and participation in SC12 and will cover the following:

• SC12 Education and Technical Programs conference registration fees waived
• Round-trip airfare purchased through SC travel system
• Conference-paid hotel for six nights in a shared double room
• A meal stipend and incidentals for the duration of the stay (not to exceed six days).

Special consideration will be given to applicants from post-secondary educational institutions that traditionally have been underrepresented in HPC, but are aspiring to introduce HPC into classrooms.

Highest consideration will be given to teams of 2-3 faculty from a single institution who apply together and demonstrate institutional interest to support HPC curriculum development (a signed letter from the department head will satisfy this requirement). For more information, please visit http://sc12.supercomputing.org/content/hpc-educators-applications-travel-support. .

Student Engagement Opportunities and Information

SC12 Broader Engagement Program
Submission Deadline – August 11, 2012

The goal of the Broader Engagement (BE) Program is to increase the participation of individuals who have been traditionally underrepresented in high performance computing (HPC). The program offers special activities to introduce, engage and support a diverse community in the conference and in HPC. Competitive grants will be available to support travel to and participation in the SC’12 technical program. Consideration will be given to applicants from groups that traditionally have been underrepresented in HPC, such as African Americans, Hispanics, Native Americans, Alaska Natives, Native Hawaiians, Pacific Islanders, and other underrepresented groups around the world, including women and people with disabilities. We encourage applications from people in all computing-related disciplines—from research, education and industry. For more information, including grant guidelines, please visit http://sc12.supercomputing.org/content/broader-engagement. Applications will be available at the SC12 Submissions site http://submissions.supercomputing.org/.

NSF Call for Proposals: Postdoctoral Research Fellowships in Biology (PRFB)
Submission Deadline – October 30, 2012

The Directorate for Biological Sciences (BIO) awards Postdoctoral Research Fellowships in Biology to recent recipients of the doctoral degree for research and training in selected areas supported by BIO and with special goals for human resource development in biology. The fellowships encourage independence at an early stage of the research career to permit Fellows to pursue their research and training goals in the most appropriate research locations regardless of the availability of funding for the Fellows at that site. For FY 2013, these BIO programs are (1) Broadening Participation in Biology; (2) Intersections of Biology and Mathematical and Physical Sciences and Engineering; (3) National Plant Genome Initiative Postdoctoral Research Fellowships; and (4) International Postdoctoral Research Fellowships in Biology. These areas change periodically as new scientific and infrastructure opportunities present themselves. For this reason, this solicitation will be changed as necessary to reflect the areas being funded. For more information, please visit http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2012/nsf12497/nsf12497.htm?WT.mc_id=USNSF_25&WT.mc_ev=click

Last But Not Least – Computational News of Interest

Writing Graphics Software Gets Much Easier


 Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) researchers have developed Halide, a programming language they say creates software that is easier to read, write, and revise than image-processing programs written in a conventional language. Halide also automates code-optimization procedures, making the coding process much faster than with other languages. The researchers used Halide to rewrite several common image-processing algorithms that had already been optimized by professional programmers. They say the Halide versions saw as much as six-fold performance gains. To read further, please visit http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2012/better-programming-language-for-image-processing-0802.html.

U.S. Will Push for Open Markets, Free Expression at ITU Meeting


The U.S. delegation to the United Nations announced that it will oppose attempts to create new Internet regulations at the upcoming International Telecommunication Union meeting in December. "Our approach is based on the recognition that the existing environment today works amazingly well," says Terry Kramer, the head of the U.S. delegation. "It is empowering telecommunications and human development by quantum leaps." The delegation also is expected to call for continued use of open markets and freedom of expression online. Meanwhile, several countries are expected to push for new, international termination fees for the Internet, which Kramer calls a bad idea that would be difficult to implement. Russia, China, and other countries also are expected to call for the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers to be removed from its position in control of Internet regulation while others may be in favor of more surveillance of Internet users in efforts to fight spam and fraud. To read further, please visit http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9229883/U.S._will_push_for_open_markets_free_expression_at_ITU_meeting/

In the Olympics of Algorithms, a Russian Keeps Winning Gold

Since 2005, Google researcher and former Moscow State University student Petr Mitrichev has led the world in algorithmic programming. Mitrichev won the most recent champion's title in competitive programming, a contest he says offers a rare island of absolutes in a subjective world. "You have a feeling of satisfaction in a contest when you solve a problem," Mitrichev says. "The beautiful aspect is that it's totally automatic and there is no human judgment involved at all." Mitrichev earned his world ranking after joining the premier leagues of competitive programming, a series of weekly and annual contests that attract more than 400,000 programmers from around the world. To read further, please visit http://www.technologyreview.com/news/428610/in-the-olympics-of-algorithms-a-russian-keeps/