In 2024, Ohio Supercomputer Center (OSC) staff connected with the national research computing community at four major conferences, fostering collaboration between academic researchers and industry leaders to drive advancements in high performance computing (HPC).
"Engaging with the national and global HPC communities allows OSC to bring cutting-edge innovations and expertise back to Ohio’s higher education and research community," said David Hudak, OSC executive director.
ISC 2024
The ISC High Performance 2024 conference took place May 12-16 in Hamburg, Germany. It connects public and industry users and technology developers to foster the development of a community that includes practitioners of machine learning, data analytics and quantum computing.
Chase Eyster, business development manager, Brian Guilfoos, HPC client services manager, and Emily Moffat Sadeghi, developer relations program manager, hosted OSC’s booth for Open OnDemand, the Center’s open-source HPC portal. They also presented an Open OnDemand User Group Meeting session about the platform.
“ISC High Performance provided a fantastic opportunity to showcase Open OnDemand to a global audience,” Guilfoos said. “The conversations we had with researchers, developers and industry leaders were invaluable in shaping the platform’s future and strengthening its role in the HPC community.”
PEARC24
The Practice and Experience in Advanced Research Computing (PEARC) 2024 conference series, held July 21-25 in Providence, Rhode Island, offers a forum for professionals in academia, government and industry to discuss critical topics in the research computing field.
OSC has been prominently involved in organizing the event, leading workshops and tutorials, participating in panel discussions and presenting papers. In addition, OSC showcases Open OnDemand at its exhibition booth and holds Open OnDemand advisory board and user group meetings at PEARC.
Alan Chalker, OSC director of strategic programs, has served on the PEARC steering committee for many years. He served as general co-chair of PEARC22 and is on the PEARC25 conference committee.
“OSC places a strong emphasis on engaging with PEARC,” Chalker said. “The conference provides a vital platform for staying informed about national trends in research computing and exchanging best practices with fellow cyberinfrastructure professionals.”
Staff also presented an Open OnDemand Overview, Customization and App Development session during the conference.
OSC is excited to welcome the conference to Columbus, Ohio, in 2025.
Gateways Conference 2024
This year, the annual Gateways Conference took place Oct. 8–10 in Bozeman, Montana. The event was hosted by SGX3 and SGCI, both funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF). This conference allows gateway developers to learn and connect with colleagues with diverse experiences to help bridge science and gateways.
OSC provided attendees with basic tools to develop new applications for the platform during a pre-conference virtual tutorial: Open OnDemand Overview and Customization.
Travis Ravert, web and interface app engineer, additionally hosted an exhibitor booth at the event.
SC24
The SC24 conference took place Nov. 17–22 in Atlanta, Georgia. SC is an international conference focused on high performance computing, networking, storage and analysis, bringing together researchers, scientists, engineers and industry professionals to share advancements in these fields.
OSC staff hosted the OSC/Open OnDemand exhibitor booth, delivered presentations and participated in panel discussions, including the Birds of a Feather User Group Meeting.
Chalker, Moffat Sadeghi and Julie Ma showcased OSC’s Open OnDemand, demonstrating its simplicity and accessibility for supercomputing users
Guilfoos contributed to a discussion on HPC-ED, an initiative focused on enhancing the discovery and sharing of CyberTraining resources through a flexible catalog, intuitive interface and active community collaboration.
Director of Research Software Applications Karen Tomko engaged with attendees at The Ohio State University’s booth to discuss the MVAPICH software library and shared insights as a panelist on the Women in HPC panel. Chalker also visited Intel’s booth to highlight the impact of Open OnDemand in lowering barriers to HPC adoption for users and administrators.
OSC also hosted two special events at its booth. OH-SC | Ohio at SC24 celebrated Ohio’s contributions to research and innovation, bringing together SC attendees with ties to the Buckeye State. Family Night at SC24 invited young and aspiring engineers to participate in a hands-on activity focused on repairing supercomputers, sparking interest in the next generation of HPC experts.
“The annual SC conference is a key opportunity for OSC to connect with national peers, explore pressing topics in the HPC field and foster new collaborations,” Hudak said.
Written by Lexi Biasi
The Ohio Supercomputer Center (OSC) addresses the rising computational demands of academic and industrial research communities by providing a robust shared infrastructure and proven expertise in advanced modeling, simulation and analysis. OSC empowers scientists with the services essential to making extraordinary discoveries and innovations, partners with businesses and industry to leverage computational science as a competitive force in the global knowledge economy and leads efforts to equip the workforce with the key technology skills required for 21st century jobs.
