SC24: HPC Creates a More Capable World

By Ntsizi “Oscar” Mphenduli, Senior Laboratory Technician, University of Fort Hare, South Africa

Jet Lag Day at ART@SC24 – A Glimpse of Georgia Tech

On November 15, 2024, ART@SC24 kicked off with its signature “Jet Lag Day,” an engaging day designed to immerse attendees in the innovation hub of Georgia Tech. Here’s a look at the highlights from this fascinating prelude to the main workshop.

Introduction and Orientation

The day began with a warm welcome and logistics briefing by Elizabeth Leake and Bryan Johnston, setting the tone for a full schedule of discovery and collaboration. Participants were introduced to Georgia Tech’s role in the high-performance computing (HPC) and artificial intelligence (AI) landscape.

Sessions and Tours

1. OMSCS Showcase:The Online Master of Science in Computer Science (OMSCS) program at Georgia Tech took center stage. Highlights included:

A historical overview of the program. Insights into African participation and international …

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Peach of a conference – SC24!

By Lara Timm, South African Centre for High-Performance ComputingCover photo: Timm with Bryan Johnston (CHPC) in front of the rainbow steps of the Klaus Computer Science Building at Georgia Tech University.

I feel immensely grateful to have had the opportunity to attend this incredible showcase in Atlanta, Georgia! As a girl from Africa, it’s difficult to even imagine the scale of the production that is the SC conference series. Eight glorious days of conference later, I return to Cape Town feeling fulfilled, invigorated and excited for what’s to come in my career and journey with HPC. How did it all go down you ask?? Well, let me tell you!

Day 1: ART@SC24 Jet-Lag Day

Day one was the first day of ART@SC24, a two-day pre-conference workshop which is an initiative of Elizabeth Leake and STEM-Trek. The ART@SC24 cohort visited Georgia Tech for a day of talks, networking and inspiration! Stand …

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A High-Performance Experience at SC24

By: Kasandra Pillay (Principal Engineer at South African National Research Network (SANReN), National Integrated Cyberinfrastructure System (NICIS), Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), South Africa)

Hi everyone! My name is Kasandra Pillay. I am an engineer at the South African National Research Network (SANReN) in South Africa.

Last year I was unable to attend the Supercomputing Conference in-person due to financial constraints within my organization. We were facing similar challenges this year, but the day was saved by Elizabeth Leake and her super STEM-Trek team, as I was provided funding to attend not only the SC24 conference in-person, but also the pre-workshops and tutorials. This resulted in my organization only having to fund my flight and daily allowance.

I thus headed off to Atlanta, Georgia from Johannesburg, South Africa from 13th to 24th November 2024, on what turned out to be a much longer than expected round trip (airport …

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ART@SC24 and SC24

By Strahinja Trecakov, New Mexico State University

This year I had a chance to attend an amazing ART@SC24 workshop organized by STEM-Trek and Elizabeth Leake. This workshop took place at the World Congress Convention Center on Saturday, November 16 before the International Conference on High-Performance Computing (HPC), Networking, Storage and Analysis, SC24. This was a great start to the busy week in Atlanta where we heard from different HPC center leaders about outreach, training, artificial intelligence (AI), networking and related initiatives. After a busy day, we enjoyed dinner and live entertainment at Medieval Times, thanks to sponsors Dell and Intel.

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ART@SC24 – Horst’s reflections

By Horst Severini, University of Oklahoma (OU)

I was very happy to be back at SC24 with STEM-Trek. It had been a while since I was able to attend an SC conference, since travel funding for that is difficult to acquire for me as a research computing facilitator and high energy physicist. The last SC I was able to attend was SC18 in Dallas, and before that at SC17 in Denver, both also with STEM-Trek. So, I’m very grateful for the support I have gotten from STEM-Trek to attend these conferences.

I very much enjoyed Saturday’s ART@SC24 workshop. It was great catching up with several of the African colleagues again, some of whom I hadn’t seen in 6 years! I was happy to be one of the 40 or so attendees, and from a US EPSCoR state no less. All presentations were really interesting, and I learned a lot about …

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Reflections on an Unforgettable Experience at ART@SC24

by Brian Kyanjo (Georgia Institute of Technology Postdoctoral Scholar)

I was privileged to be part of the ART@SC24 jetlag day preparations and the overall SC24 conference. This event was more than just a gathering—it was a transformative experience that blended innovation, collaboration, and cultural exploration, leaving a lasting impact on my professional and personal growth.

The journey to SC24 began in July 2024, with brainstorming sessions and early planning. Weekly Wednesday meetings were dedicated to fine-tuning the details, from vendor coordination to venue arrangements, ensuring the event would be as engaging and colorful as possible. Months of preparation culminated on November 8th, marking the start of an extraordinary experience, thanks to Bryan Johnston, John Poole, Elizabeth Leake, and Hannah Moon.

The first day kicked off with reconnecting with colleagues from the HPC ecosystem across southern and eastern Africa. I also had the unique opportunity to meet speakers at …

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International HPC Summer School 2024 – Kobe Japan

By Titus Nyarko Nde (Boise State University, PhD in Computing Program)

Introduction

I had the opportunity to attend the International High Performance Computing Summer School 2024 in Kobe, Japan (hereafter IHPCSS). Thanks to Elizabeth Leake (STEM-Trek) for encouraging me to apply. It was the first time I had applied for the school, and I was thrilled to be selected. The IHPCSS exceeded all of my expectations. Some of the relationships I made in Kobe will last a lifetime. I am not sure where to begin; relax, sit down, and grab some coffee as I walk you through my journey.

Sponsorship 

IHPCSS was fully sponsored for travel, lodging, meals, etc. Many thanks to the National Science Foundation ACCESS program for supporting U.S. participants. 

Preparation

How did I prepare? Though I know a couple of programming languages, I am predominantly a Python and R programmer, and all of my HPC work, to …

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ART@SC24 – HPC Creates!

Agenda: Drop-ins on Saturday are welcome. Otherwise, you must have registered, in advance, to participate in the Friday and Saturday evening events.

ART: Artificial intelligence (AI), Research computing and Training is for advanced cyberinfrastructure (CI) professionals who support research computing on their campuses and conduct outreach in rural K-20 education environments. We will explore the benefits and risks associated with AI in academia, and share strategies to protect data privacy, security and sovereignty. ART@SC24 will convene in Atlanta, Georgia November 15-16, ahead of the Supercomputing Conference, SC24, November 17-22. 

This will be the sixth in a series of SC co-located workshops or events that STEM-Trek Nonprofit has hosted since 2015. The previous five were supported by the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF; supplements to existing grants, or individual awards), and donations to STEM-Trek from Google and others. The first, in collaboration with Executive Director Dan Stanzione …

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Bridging Horizons: NRG@SC23 & NCAR visit

By: Mphenduli “Oscar” Ntsizi (University of Fort Hare, South Africa)

On a chilly November day, the African HPC-Ecosystems team embarked on a transformative journey to the U.S. National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) in Boulder, Colorado. The experience was orchestrated by Elizabeth Leake (STEM-Trek), Daniel Howard (NCAR HPC Consultant) and Wenfu Tang (NCAR Project Scientist). The day unfolded with riveting presentations by several NCAR scientists which chronicled several initiatives to accelerate environmental sustainability in Africa.

The University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR), whose university-driven …

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