On February 25th, 2019, Sustainable Horizons Institute (SHI) led the Broader Engagement (BE) Program at the Society of Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM) Computational Science and Engineering (CSE) conference. This year, more than 75 sponsored and self-supported participants came together as BE participants. As the third iteration in the SIAM CSE conference series, BE really hit its stride. The program components have reached a level of maturity while also representing fresh and new ideas developed by the Organizing Committee.
The Guided Affinity Groups were a huge hit this year. Building on the past, this year the GAGs included a virtual meeting prior to the conference, daily “Stand Up” meetings over breakfast each day at the conference, and a presentation at the end of the week. All funded participants were required to participate in the GAGs of their choice, and feedback indicate that the changes were very well received.
“My favorite aspects of the program were the GAG meetings during the morning, and the many great networking opportunities. Also, the tutorials were great!”
In addition to the full technical program at SIAM CSE19 BE Schedule included:
- BE Orientation
- Guided Affinity Groups
- BE Technical Research Oral and Poster Presentations by Participants
- GPU Accelerated Computing on Summit Tutorial
- Parallel Algorithm Design Tutorial
- Lightning Talks and Mixer
- Social Modeling Through Game Design: A STEAM Workshop
- Best Practices for Diversity and Inclusion Mini symposium
- Overcoming Workplace Challenges Panel: Trials, Tribulations, and Triumphs
- BE/Workshop Celebrating Diversity Luncheon
- Mentor-Protégé Mixer
- BE Social and Networking Event
- Wrap Up Session
Here are a few fun facts about BE @SIAMCSE19
- 48% female
- 15% African American
- 5% Native American/Alaskan
- 32% Hispanic
- 40 institutions (including several Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Hispanic Serving Institutions, state universities, community and liberal arts colleges)
- 40% undergraduate; 47% graduate students
- 34% first-generation college students
- More than 380 community volunteers indicated interest in supporting the BE program
Survey Results
A comparison of before and after survey responses indicates significant proficiency increases in:
- preparing graduate school application materials
- identifying graduate school options
Over 60% of Respondents Rated these Sessions Excellent:
- Lightning Talks and Mixer
- STEAM (STEM+Art) Workshop
- Best Practices for CSE Diversity and Inclusion Mini-symposium
- Overcoming Workplace Challenges Panel: Trials, Tribulations, and Triumphs
In their own words: here’s what participants had to say:
I feel as though I created a support group of people I can continue to have a professional relationship with for years and years to come.
I appreciated how the BE group made a huge, 2,000+ person conference feel much smaller and easier to navigate.
I was exposed to new areas of research and got to meet researchers from academia and national labs; in particular, seeing successful women computational scientists gave me a clearer vision for what I can accomplish with my future and excited me to go back to graduate school