Exascale Computing Project Introduction to HPC Boot Camp

I am serving as a mentor in the first Exascale Computing Project (ECP) HPC Bootcamp. The idea behind this boot camp is to teach advanced computing techniques through projects rather than exercises. This approach makes sense when I recall that, of all the difficult things I learned in college or school, the ones I still remember well enough to use were applied to projects, like my thesis. Application enhances memory and fosters some level of mastery.

Our team consists of three mentors from Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and we are guiding 21 students organized into four teams. We are deeply committed to their success and will endeavor to guide them through two projects that involve analyzing a large dataset related to tracking power outages in the United States at 15-minute intervals over a span of five years.

We have the support of two excellent peer mentors who are at the same career stage as our students and possess experience in advanced computing. Looking back, I remember that it was less intimidating to ask my peers questions than to approach my professors. I also recollect that I learned effectively when I strived to answer my peers’ questions. There is a strong mutual benefit to having peer mentors.

In total, there are 61 students working on six different projects prepared by National Lab staff and the Sustainable Horizons Institute. Each team is paired with a peer mentor. The students come from diverse academic backgrounds, including both graduates and undergraduates. Each project incorporates elements of HPC, big data, or AI and focuses on energy justice. Part of the motivation for this camp is to introduce High-Performance Computing into disciplines and among students who don’t typically choose to use it. The energy justice focus was chosen because this effort is developed and supported by the Department of Energy, and we hoped the justice focus would attract a diverse pool of students from backgrounds that may not typically include advanced computing. The camp also aims to serve as a pathway to computing careers.

The students have five days to complete the project. During this time, they will also attend talks and tutorials designed to introduce them to High-Performance Computing and the research it enables. At the end of the week, the students will present their project outcomes.

If you want to learn more about this project-based learning approach, please see Intro to HPC Bootcamp.

To read about the octcomes of the camp see DOE’s First Intro to HPC Bootcamp Focuses on Energy Justice and a New Model for Workforce Development