Author Archives: Stem Trek

By:  Marcelina Nagales (Florida State University)

Google Chief Internet Evangelist Vint Cerf provided a glimpse into the future by citing references from the past during his SC21 Keynote titled, “Computing and the Humanities.” 

While he’s clearly a technology advocate, Cerf thinks we would benefit as a society from requiring students to complete a “Drivers Ed,” or a computer literacy/critical skills course, that will help them safely navigate the internet. We should routinely question the source of information, and make informed decisions based on scientific evidence, vs. misinformation or disinformation, for example. 

He mentioned a book written in 1909 by E.M. Forster titled, “The Machine Stops.” Forster wrote about a civilization that sheltered in place, and communicated with each …

Attending the first pandemic in-person SC was not without its concerns (and I say pandemic because this thing is not over). But with a vaccination requirement and a mask mandate, attendance safety protocols were stricter than at my workplace. I wondered how the conference would proceed in a hybrid format with substantially reduced in-person attendance compared to previous years. As a Missourian, there was frustration that we finally got SC in St. Louis, but in circumstances that made in-person attendance difficult for some.

St. Louis is only a two-hour drive for me, I have a stash of N95 masks and a year of experience navigating the pandemic in a classroom environment. Assistance from STEM-Trek removed whatever lingering doubts I might have …

By Emine Beyza Dagli

Crisp autumn weather set the stage for SC21 in St. Louis, Missouri. It was my first time visiting this area, and I enjoyed sightseeing when I wasn’t involved with the conference. Among iconic landmarks is the “Arch,” which is a magnificent feat of engineering. I traveled to the top of The Gateway to the West and can now understand how it got that name; the adventure offered a bird’s eye view of the city and miles beyond.

On the first day, I attended the Parallel Computing 101 tutorial led by Professors Quentin F. Stout and Christiane Jablonowski from the University of Michigan. Following introductions, they explained some of the basic terms and acronyms that many in the industry take …

By:  Marcelina Nagales (Florida State University)

What an eventful and information-packed week SC21 was! 

I lodged with five others in STEM-Trek’s “UbuntuHouse,” which was two adjoined 3BR/3BA condos. There were two full-service kitchens stocked with snacks and breakfast items. A few of us coffee-drinkers congregated in one kitchen each morning, and we often shared transportation to and from the convention center. It was a great way to meet others who were also attending SC that week – we had our own tiny community. While this year’s attendance was 3,200 on-site (UPDATE: SC21 had ~3,200 in-person attendees and ~3,300 remote attendees.  ~380 sessions), SC normally draws 10-15,000. I can imagine it would be easy to get lost in the crowd if your work …

The submission window is now closed. Thank you!

Would you like to attend SC21 in St. Louis, Missouri (US) November 14-19 but lack travel support? The SC international conference series draws more than 10,000 high-performance computing, storage and analysis enthusiasts from around the world. While SC20 was totally virtual, SC21 will have both virtual and in-person registration options.

STEM-Trek Nonprofit will help 28* individuals attend SC21 via three contests: ScienceSlam@SC, our inaugural “Pathfinders@SC21,” and a special opportunity for early-career communicators!  Three to eight-minute video submissions are accepted in the first two categories, and writing examples are required for the third.

Once again, cybersecurity thought leader and Toastmasters International enthusiast Mohamad Qayoom will serve as our host!

The “Pathfinder” contest welcomes career arc video testimonials from mid- to late-career research computing and data science (RCD) professionals. While examples at the above link are from a PEARC21 …

PEARC21 Student Program Cybersecurity Careers panel explores the career arcs of five experts in this August 5, 2021 HPCwire article. Video testimonials by panelists are found on the PEARC21 website (linked to panelist names).

Thomas J. Sterling (Indiana University) delivered his 18th International Supercomputing Conference (ISC21) keynote address on Wednesday, November 30. Before he closed, he expressed gratitude for the efforts of a number of industry icons, and included Elizabeth Leake (STEM-Trek) among them.

Senior Editor John Russell (HPCwire) captured the highlights and closed his article with this quote by Dr. Sterling:

“The final person here is one who frankly, we really need to acknowledge and that is Elizabeth Leake. Now many of you know Elizabeth, she is part of our community and always with a friendly smile. But she is much more than that. She is the founder of STEM-Trek…I can’t read to you the long list of accomplishments, but through STEM-Trek, students are encouraged and engaged in high performance computing. She has singularly managed to acquire travel grants for students who otherwise, frankly, would never get …

By Ana Solórzano (Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil)

Hello STEM-Trekkers! I would like to share my experience attending HPDC (ACM Symposium on High-Performance Parallel and Distributed Computing) for the first time, virtually, June 21-25, 2021. I also served as a chair for the PERMAVOST’21 workshop which was held during HPDC.

In its 30th year, HPDC is one of the most prestigious international conferences in the HPC field, and features the latest research on the design, implementation, evaluation, and use of parallel and distributed systems for high-end computing. This year, there were seven workshops and a tutorial.

Monday was workshop day for the P-RECS’21 – 4th Workshop on Practical Reproducible Evaluation of Computer Systems, with a great keynote by Tanu Malik (Associate Professor, DePaul University-US), …

Apply by May 16!

STEM-Trek Director Elizabeth Leake (U-Iowa) and Adviser Alana Romanella (Virginia Tech) are co-chairing the PEARC21 (and PEARC22) Student Program! Be sure to register your interest, and apply for a registration waiver by May 16.