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1. Workshop Report: Rethinking NSF’s Computational Ecosystem for 21st Century Science and Engineering

   Reed, Daniel A.; Lifka, David; Swanson, David; Amaro, Rommie; Wilkins-Diehr, Nancy (September 2018, NSF Workshop Reports)

   Reed, Daniel A.; Lifka, David; Swanson, David; Amaro, Rommie; Wilkins-Diehr, Nancy (Ed.)

   This report summarizes the discussions from a workshop convened at NSF on May 30-31, 2018 in Alexandria, VA. The overarching objective of the workshop was to rethink the nature and composition of the NSF-supported computational ecosystem given changing application requirements and resources and technology landscapes. The workshop included roughly 50 participants, drawn from high-performance computing (HPC) centers, campus computing facilities, cloud service providers (academic and commercial), and distributed resource providers. Participants spanned both large research institutions and smaller universities. Organized by Daniel Reed (University of Utah, chair), David Lifka (Cornell University), David Swanson (University of Nebraska), Rommie Amaro (UCSD), and Nancy Wilkins-Diehr (UCSD/SDSC), the workshop was motivated by the following observations. First, there have been dramatic changes in the number and nature of applications using NSF-funded resources, as well as their resource needs. As a result, there are new demands on the type (e.g., data centric) and location (e.g., close to the data or the users) of the resources as well as new usage modes (e.g., on-demand and elastic). Second, there have been dramatic changes in the landscape of technologies, resources, and delivery mechanisms, spanning large scientific instruments, ubiquitous sensors, and cloud services, among others. 

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2. National Symposium on PRedicting Emergence of Virulent Entities by Novel Technologies (PREVENT)". NSF Predictive Intelligence for Pandemic Prevention (PIPP) Workshop Summary Report. Atlanta, GA: Georgia Tech. 52 pages.

   Prakash, B.A.; Torrens, P.M.; Wigginton, K.; Yin, J. (January 2021, National Symposium on PRedicting Emergence of Virulent Entities by Novel Technologies (PREVENT))

   null (Ed.)

   The National Science Foundation (NSF) held a virtual Symposium on PRedicting Emergence of Virulent Entities by Novel Technologies (PREVENT), on February 22 – 23, 2021 as part of its series on Predictive Intelligence for Pandemic Prevention (PIPP). The workshop brought together more than 60 leading experts, representing NSF research directorates for Biological Sciences (BIO), Computer Information Science and Engineering (CISE), Engineering (ENG), Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences (SBE), and the Office of International Science and Engineering (OISE), to discuss how the global behavior of an infectious entity can emerge from the interactions that begin occurring between components at the molecular level and expand to physiological, environmental, and population scales. The workshop was divided into four sessions, each focusing on one of four different scales: 1) end-toend (or multi-scale) 2) molecular, 3) physiological and environmental, and 4) population and epidemiological. Particular focus was given to identifying challenges and opportunities in each of these domains. The workshop aimed to: • Identify interdisciplinary advances in science, technology, and human behavior to enable prediction and prevention of future pandemics • Begin to build the necessary convergence to be optimally prepared to prevent future pandemics • Establish convergent data commons and cyberinfrastructure for PIPP This workshop report summarizes the plenary presentations, panel discussions, and breakout group sessions that took place at this event. The results presented here are drawn from the viewpoints expressed by the participants and do not necessarily reflect those of the broader pandemic research community. 

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3. Summary Report: 4th Annual Workshop on Resilient Supply of Critical Minerals, 7-8 August 2024, Missouri University of Science and Technology, Rolla, Missouri, USA

   Locmelis, M; Clark, S; Swain, R (September 2024, Missouri S&T)

   On August 7-8, 2024, the Thomas J. O’Keefe Institute for Sustainable Supply of Strategic Minerals at Missouri University of Science and Technology (Missouri S&T) hosted the fourth annual workshop on ‘Resilient Supply of Critical Minerals’. The workshop was funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and was attended by 212 participants. 143 participants attended the workshop in-person in the Havener Center on the Missouri S&T campus in Rolla, Missouri, USA. Another 69 participants attended online via Zoom. Twenty participants (including 12 students and 4 early career researchers) received travel support through the NSF grant to attend the conference in Rolla. Out of the workshop 212 participants, 199 stated their sectors of employment during registration showing that 88 participants were from academia (34 students), 58 from the private sector and 53 from government agencies. The workshop was followed by a post-workshop field trip to US Strategic Minerals (formerly Missouri Cobalt) in southeast Missouri that was attended by 18 workshop participants from academia (n=11; including 4 students) and the private sector (n=7). Four topical sessions were covered during the workshop: A. The Critical Mineral Potential of the USA: Evaluation of existing, and exploration for new resources. B. Critical Minerals Workforce Development: How to grow the US critical minerals workforce. C. Critical Mineral Processing and Recycling: Maximizing critical mineral recovery from existing production streams. D. Critical Mineral Policy and Supply Chain Economics: Reshoring critical mineral production. The topical sessions were composed of two keynote lectures and complemented by oral and poster presentations by the workshop participants, as well as a 30-minute open discussion at the end of each topical session. Breakout sessions that concluded each day discussed: • Can mining lead the new materials future? • Critical minerals research: where to go from here? • Should the Bureau of Mines be restored? Discussions during the workshop highlighted, for example, that: (i) Mining companies need to better address downstream needs and develop company cultures inclusive of younger generations; (ii) Although funding opportunities over the past year’s started to make a difference for critical minerals supply chain resilience, additional funding that is aimed at strengthening academia – private sector partnerships as well as international collaborations is needed to ensure a long-term impact; (iii) The majority of participants would welcome the reestablishment of the Bureau of Mines, although no consensus was reached on its potential responsibilities. This workshop report provides a detailed summary of the workshop demographics and discussions. 

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4. Findings Report: Workshop on Resilient Supply of Critical Minerals

   Locmelis, Marek; Lueking, Angela; Moats, Michael; Awuah-Offei, Kwame; Alagha, Lana; Fitch, Mark; Krolikowski, Alanna; Clark, Shelby (October 2021, NSF Workshop Reports)

   null (Ed.)

   On August 2-3, 2021, the Thomas J. O’Keefe Institute for Sustainable Supply of Strategic Minerals at Missouri University of Science and Technology (Missouri S&T) hosted the NSF-funded virtual workshop ‘Resilient Supply of Critical Minerals’. The workshop was convened via Zoom and attracted 158 registrants, including 108 registrants from academia (61 students), 30 registrants from government agencies, and 20 registrants from the private sector. Four topical sessions were covered: A. Mineral Exploration and Source Diversification. B. Supply Chain and Policy Issues. C. Improving Mineral Recycling and Reprocessing Technologies. D. Technological Alternatives to Critical Minerals. Each topical session was composed of two keynote lectures and followed by a breakout session that was designed to identify promising pathways towards increasing critical supply chain resilience in the United States. During each breakout session, participants were asked to address five questions: Q1. What are the roadblocks that affect the resilient supply of critical minerals? Q2. What are the most pressing research needs? Q3. What opportunities can lead to the fastest and biggest impact? Q4. What skills training is required to meet future workforce demands? Q5. What other questions should be asked, but are commonly overlooked? Several issues that limit critical mineral supply chain resilience in the United States were identified and discussed in all breakout sessions, including: 1. Insufficient understanding of domestic critical minerals resources. To address this issue, workshop participants highlighted the need for (i) more geologic research to identify new and evaluate existing resources; and (ii) a qualitative and quantitative assessment of critical minerals that may be recovered as by/co-products from existing production streams. 2. Technical limitations of current mineral processing and recycling technologies. To address this issue, workshop participants highlighted the need for (i) innovative mineral processing technologies, including more environmentally friendly chemicals/solvents, and (ii) automated recycling technologies for appliances and e-waste. Participants also highlighted the need for a centralized and simplified way to collect recyclable materials, and incentives for the public to participate in recycling. 3. Long permitting processes for mining and mineral processing operations, with often unpredictable outcomes. To address this issue, workshop participants suggested the development of new critical mineral focused policies with faster processing times and more transparent / predictable decision-making processes. 4. The negative public image of mining and mineral processing operations. To address this issue, workshop participants suggested to design public outreach / education initiatives and to include local communities into decision-making processes. 5. Limited availability of a critical mineral workforce. To address this issue, workshop participants suggested an increased focus on critical mineral specific skill training in higher education institutions, and advanced training of the existing workforce. 

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5. DeapSECURE: Empowering Students for Data- and Compute-Intensive Research in Cybersecurity through Training

   https://doi.org/10.1145/3332186.3332247  

   Purwanto, Wirawan; Wu, Hongyi; Sosonkina, Masha; Arcaute, Karina (January 2019, Proceedings of ACM Practical Experience in Advanced Research Computing Conference (PEARC’19))

   As the volume and sophistication of cyber-attacks grow, cybersecurity researchers, engineers and practitioners rely on advanced cyberinfrastructure (CI) techniques like big data and machine learning, as well as advanced CI platforms, e.g., cloud and high-performance computing (HPC) to assess cyber risks, identify and mitigate threats, and achieve defense in depth. There is a training gap where current cybersecurity curricula at many universities do not introduce advanced CI techniques to future cybersecurity workforce. At Old Dominion University (ODU), we are bridging this gap through an innovative training program named DeapSECURE (Data-Enabled Advanced Training Program for Cyber Security Research and Education). We developed six non-degree training modules to expose cybersecurity students to advanced CI platforms and techniques rooted in big data, machine learning, neural networks, and high-performance programming. Each workshop includes a lecture providing the motivation and context for a CI technique, which is then examined during a hands-on session. The modules are delivered through (1) monthly workshops for ODU students, and (2) summer institutes for students from other universities and Research Experiences for Undergraduates participants. Future plan for the training program includes an online continuous learning community as an extension to the workshops, and all learning materials available as open educational resources, which will facilitate widespread adoption, adaptations, and contributions. The project leverages existing partnerships to ensure broad participation and adoption of advanced CI techniques in the cybersecurity community. We employ a rigorous evaluation plan rooted in diverse metrics of success to improve the curriculum and demonstrate its effectiveness. 

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