What does the current research computing landscape look like at UNLV? And how do we need to plan for the future?
These questions and many more will be discussed at the High-Performance Computing Symposium on March 23-24, 2022, in the Blasco Event Wing of the UNLV Foundation Building.
Hosted by Division of Research, the symposium will start a conversation about what computing can and should be on the UNLV campus. Through a combination of invited presentations and open discussions, participants will examine our present capacities and explore what high-performance computing should look like in a future where the digital world infuses our research, curricula, and everyday world.
The symposium will focus on three broad areas:
- High-Performance Research Computing
- Institutional Research Computing Infrastructure
- Open Science and Open Access
The High-Performance Research Computing session will feature an overview of this landscape, including a description of available resources and the history and use of Cherry Creek, a supercomputing cluster hosted at Switch. In addition, faculty who use high performance computing for research will outline their work, lessons learned in using high performance computers, and thoughts on potential improvements. Discussion between the presenters and the audience will be featured, with a focus on unmet needs.
The Institutional Research Computing Infrastructure session will have a similar form, with the portfolio of services being presented first. Current use case examples will be given by practitioners on campus, and known unmet needs in data services, access, management, analytics, and just-in-time computing resources will be explored. The overall goal in this area will be to describe the resources available, and identify gaps that need to be closed in order to scale to higher and more impactful activity.
The University Libraries will play an important role in Open Science and Open Access session by providing an overview of this fast-changing landscape and computing and data storage’s place in it. Agency requirement and directions will be discussed, and examples of open science data needs and practices will be illustrated by faculty
Each area will include a roundtable discussion with ample audience participation.
“With digital methods informing every aspect of academic and research life across campus, and with fantastic resources being used or within reach, this marks the beginning of an important discourse at UNLV. We need to aspire to have a computing enterprise that is second to none, one that enables faculty and students in their research to be at the leading edges of their domains, that best serves students in their education, and that asserts national leadership,” says Ed Synakowski, vice president for research.
Analysis of a survey circulated broadly across campus regarding high performance computing will be discussed as well. The response to this survey was very strong, and already has revealed needs and opportunities that will be part of the conversation at the symposium.
The symposium will begin with a full-day agenda on March 23 beginning at 8:30am with welcome remarks by President Keith Whitfield and Synakowski. Lunch will be included.
March 24 will be a half-day session and is scheduled to conclude by 12:30 p.m.
Synakowski developed the Symposium with a committee he assembled with various computing stakeholders.
“The group has shaped every aspect of the Symposium, and I am most grateful for their support,” says Synakowski. “The energy and ideas in the committee discussions affirm that the time for this conversation is overdue, and that the idea exchange at the Symposium will be stimulating and productive.”
The symposium is open to the entire campus and he encourages everyone to attend the event where time allows.
“Regardless of your discipline,” says Synakowski. “We are embarking on a conversation that can help shape the research landscape at UNLV so as to enable faculty, staff, and students to maximize our regional, national, and global impact in areas of great societal import.”
