What was the most impactful part of the BE program for you, and how did it influence your perspective on your studies or career goals?
The most impactful part of the BE program for me was meeting so many knowledgeable people who are continuously studying and researching to advance society. This has influenced my outlook on my education and career goals since it inspires me to further my education in different ways, like pursuing a Ph.D. or earning another master’s degree in a STEM field. For my career goals, I want to use my knowledge to research and solve problems that contribute to bettering society in some way.
Can you share a memorable moment from the conference—perhaps a session, discussion, or connection with a mentor—that stood out to you?
A memorable moment from the conference was the Hands-on HPC for MDS24 Alternative Session, which my mentor organized, and I had the opportunity to assist with. For some background, I participated in SHI’s Intro to High-Performance Computing (HPC) Bootcamp in August 2023, where I met my current mentor and decided to pursue a master’s in computer science. I then participated in Sustainable Horizons Institute (SHI) Sustainable Research Pathways (SRP) program where I was matched with my current mentor, Suzanne Parete-Koon. Over the summer, I worked with Frontier, the world’s fastest supercomputer, where I worked on developing a still in-progress tutorial on HPC and visualizing astrophysics data to introduce beginners to this work. I ended up completing a certificate for an ORNL HPC Crash Course, where this same course was taught at SIAM Conference on Mathematics of Data Science (MDS24). Since I already have a certificate in this area, I ended up helping participants at this alternative session get logged into Frontier, next steps, and debug their errors. I never knew that I would get to the level that I’m at now, where I can not only learn something, but be able to teach it to others. This really helped me feel like I belong in this field, and that one day I can achieve the same level of expertise that these presenters and speakers are at. I am also continuing to work on the same tutorial that I’ve been working on over the summer so that my tutorial can eventually end up in this ORNL HPC Crash Course for other people to use and learn from, and then eventually be showcased at conferences to get more people introduced to this type of work. I learned a lot from this, which is that I enjoy teaching and I enjoy debugging, attending conferences, making new connections, and maintaining current ones.
How did participating in the BE program affect your confidence, skills, or sense of community within the computational science/data science field?
Participating in the BE program affected my confidence, skills, and sense of community within the computational science and data science field in a number of great ways. Even though there is so much that I still don’t know, I feel like I belong in STEM, and I want to help others feel the same. These workshops at conferences are great ways to achieve that, because they are guided learning modules that give participants a small piece of what is possible, and they help the user every step of the way. Being on the other side of that and helping others with this workshop really instilled a lot of confidence in me and my abilities in tech. I want to finish my own tutorial so that I can reach more people who were once in my shoes and didn’t know what they were doing at first…Everyone had a different background that was so unique, and what I learned from each and every participant is something that I would have never known otherwise if it wasn’t for everyone coming from such a unique place. Everyone was at a different stage in their career, had a different degree, grew up in a different culture, etc. I took away something from each and every person that I met, and I cherish those moments.
What advice would you give to future BE participants, especially those who are hesitant to attend or are attending for the first time?
To future BE participants, I would like to say that it doesn’t hurt to apply and see what happens. Programs like this exist to benefit you, not to harm you. It can be scary, especially when you are doing it alone or for the very first time, but almost everyone is doing it alone or for the very first time. The purpose of SHI is to no longer be alone, and to continue to stay in the community so it is no longer your first time. Apply to the BE program, make new friends, learn new things, and try to make the most of your experience. If it’s something that wasn’t enjoyable for some reason, then at least now you know and you don’t have to do it again, but you should at least try because something great will probably come out of it. For me, when I participated in the Intro to High-Performance Computing Bootcamp that SHI organized, I decided that I wanted to get my masters because there was so much more that I wanted to know. Then I decided to also intern at a national lab, and now I might want to work there full-time. After attending a conference with SHI BE, I now want to attend so many more conferences and see what else I can learn. Think about all of the doors that can open up to you that you wouldn’t have known about or considered otherwise, because I certainly didn’t until I took that leap of faith.
What other SHI project are you interested in, or have you attended any other programs before?
I am interested in attending any and all SHI programs really, because I love the community so much and I love all of the programs that SHI has to offer. My first program was the Intro to High-Performance Computing (HPC) Bootcamp at the Berkeley National Lab in August 2023. I really enjoyed this program, and as a result, I now want to become a mentor for that program, especially since I now know that I possibly really enjoy teaching. At this bootcamp, my project was on Energy Cost for Disadvantaged Populations and Methods of Energy Efficiency and Energy Optimization in Computing Systems, and I learned an immense amount from this program, HPC, and national labs. One of the goals of this program was to get us ready for the SHI Sustainable Research Pathways (SRP) program, where we would actually intern at a lab over the summer of 2024. I was thankful enough to participate in that, which helped me realize that there are so many career opportunities for me out there, and national labs are a great option that I didn’t know about before SHI. Now, I attended the SHI BE program at SIAM (MDS), where I learned what conferences are really about, both by participating as a student in my very first conference, and by helping others with an HPC Crash Course as a teacher for that. I want to continue to be an active member in SHI in whatever way possible. Whether that be as a participant at another BE program, or mentor for an Intro to HPC Bootcamp, or a speaker on my experience as a SRP participant, the possibilities are endless. I want to give back to my community in whatever way I can, and I love that SHI wants to keep past participants a part of its community.