diane baxter welcome to the san diego supercomputer center dr. diane baxter education director san...
TRANSCRIPT
Diane Baxter
Welcome to the San Diego Welcome to the San Diego Supercomputer CenterSupercomputer Center
Welcome to the San Diego Welcome to the San Diego Supercomputer CenterSupercomputer Center
Dr. Diane BaxterEducation Director
San Diego Supercomputer Center
Thanks to Fran Berman, Jeff Sale, and Krishna Madhavan, for slides and inspiration
Diane Baxter
SDSC Education Mission
To create a diverse, innovative,
ethical, and thoughtful next
generation of cyberinfrastructure-
fluent scientists, engineers,
mathematicians, and research
professionals.
Diane Baxter
Computing – in the beginning . . . Popular Mechanics, 1954
Electric Counting Machine, 1951
Diane Baxter
Today computing is about more than computers
Cyberinfrastructure is the term used to
include the hardware, software, and
services that provide an “end-to-end”
information technology resource.
network
data
computer
storage
fieldinstrument
network
computer
data
network
computerviz
computer
sensorsfield
data
wireless
Diane Baxter
Cyberinfrastructure is a lifestyle
Communication
EntertainmentShopping
Diane Baxter
Our students are IT “natives”
• Assume the web
• Assume anytime, anywhere, instant communication
• Assume that everything is available and (virtually) free
• Assume that one can adapt to things in real time (RPG)
• Assume that none of the resources must actually be where you are (the Internet)
Diane Baxter
Faculty are both IT “immigrants” and educational pioneers
• Most faculty took courses in which textbooks were expected to provide course content.
• Teachers’ IT skills often lag behind their students’.
• Standardized tests that are supposed to measure student preparation continue to focus more on content than on learning process skills or technology use.
• But. . . students’ understanding of IT is highly variable; teachers can not assume a commons starting point and thus they must assume there will be IT skill gaps.
• The rate of change in science and technology course content is faster than ever before, demanding that teachers actively learn new content as they teach. (That means more preparation time per course hour.)
Diane Baxter
Science has also changed
Formerly, scientists’ primary tools were direct observation and measurement.
Diane Baxter
Today : Science is a Team Sport
Astronomy
Physics
Life Sciences
Modeling and Simulation
Data Managementand Mining
GAMESS
Geosciences
Diane Baxter
Scientists share ideas, data and resources using vast grids . . .
SDSC
PRAGMA: Pacific Rim GridMiddleware Consortium TeraGrid: National
Research Resource Grid
GEON: GeosciencesGrid
BIRN: Biomedical Informatics Grid
Open Science Grid: Physics-driven Grid
infrastructureNEES: Earthquake
Engineering Grid
Diane Baxter
Major Major Earthquakes on Earthquakes on
the San the San Andreas Fault, Andreas Fault, 1680-present1680-present
19061906M 7.8M 7.8
18571857M 7.8M 7.8 16801680
M 7.7M 7.7
How dangerous is How dangerous is the San Andreas the San Andreas
Fault?Fault?
• Geoscience researchers can now use massive amount of geological, historical, and environmental data to simulate natural disasters such as earthquakes.
• Focus: Understanding big earthquakes and their impacts.
• Simulations combine large-scale data collections, high-resolution models, and big supercomputer runs
• Simulation results provide new scientific information enabling better
• Estimation of seismic risk
• Emergency preparation, response and planning
• Design of next generation of earthquake-resistant structures
• Results provide immense societal benefits which can help in saving many lives and billions in economic losses
to do things they couldn’t do alone . . .
Diane Baxter
Sharing data across and among disciplines creates new perspectives.
DisciplinaryDisciplinaryDatabasesDatabasesUsersUsers
Portals, Domain Portals, Domain Specific APIsSpecific APIs
provide accessprovide accessto datato data
MiddlewareMiddlewarefederates datafederates data
across disciplinaryacross disciplinaryvocabulariesvocabularies
OrganismsOrganisms
OrgansOrgans
CellsCells
AtomsAtoms
BiopolymersBiopolymers
OrganellesOrganelles
Cell BiologyCell Biology
AnatomyAnatomy
PhysiologyPhysiology
ProteomicsProteomics
Medicinal ChemistryMedicinal Chemistry
GenomicsGenomics
Life Sciences
Diane Baxter
What can SDSC Education programs offer?
Professional development opportunities for faculty (classes, workshops, tutorials)
Standards-based, “data-flavored” curricula
Project-based and hands-on learning opportunities for high school through graduate students
Free, web-based resources for educators at all levels
Web-based resources and shared communication space to support implementation and help build communities of practice
Diane Baxter
SDSC Education’s ApproachHighlight data’s power and intrigue
Feature computational approaches to real-world issues
Link pre-college curricula to standards and to research data
Seek data and computational links for expanding fields
Scaffold all programs with web-based resources, rapid response to questions, and recognition of student and educator successes.
Involve educators in planning and use participant feedback to adapt programs to changing needs and audiences
Partner with community colleges and minority-serving institutions to ensure next-generation workforce diversity.
Diane Baxter
Focus on critical learning skills . . .
• Understanding Data
• Teamwork
• Problem-solving techniques
• Using Community Technologies
Diane Baxter
Understanding Data - SDSC Discover Data Educators’ Portal
http://education.sdsc.edu/discoverdata/
Diane Baxter
Teamwork
• Student Teams:• Project-based Learning (EPICS, TIES)• Share Data (e.g. environmental monitoring)• Team internships with SDSC staff
• Educator Teams share:• New Curricula and Educational Resources• Assessment Approaches and Outcomes• Success Stories and Lessons Learned
Diane Baxter
Problem-Solving . . .
• Technology in education (StudentTech)
• Technology for communities (TIES, with Jacobs School of Engineering)
• New technologies: HPC and grid computing challenges (TeraGrid and SC Student Contests)
• Computational challenges in research (Student SAC Program, TeraGrid Science Gateways, CI-HASS)
Diane Baxter
Community Building
• Pathways to Cyberinfrastructure – National Supercomputing Education Program – SCXY
• TeraGrid Education, Outreach, and Training• SDSC TeacherTECH
• http://education.sdsc.edu/teachertech
• HPC Summer Institutes• CI team internships that build domain-based
graduate student communities (2007)• Communication Technologies (CI-Channel)
• http://www.cichannel.org
Diane Baxter
When are we successful?
• When students use CI to explore and understand data as readily as they drive their cars.
• Use integrated and specialized CI tools – without needing to build their own.
• Expect to know how CI will work each time – without surprises.
• Seek and find instruction that’s easily available and user-friendly
• Know how to find someone to fix it when it breaks
• Because it’s about where you’re going, not how your car works
Diane Baxter
Thank You and Welcome to SDSC
www.education.sdsc.edu