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1. CyberMAGICS: Cyber Training on Materials Genome Innovation for Computational Software for Future Engineers

   Nomura K.; Dev P.; Nakano A.; Vashishta P.; Wei T. (April 2023, American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) Division of Pacific South West Section (PSW))

   Computing landscape is evolving rapidly. Exascale computers have arrived, which can perform 10^18 mathematical operations per second. At the same time, quantum supremacy has been demonstrated, where quantum computers have outperformed these fastest supercomputers for certain problems. Meanwhile, artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming every aspect of science and engineering. A highly anticipated application of the emerging nexus of exascale computing, quantum computing and AI is computational design of new materials with desired functionalities, which has been the elusive goal of the federal materials genome initiative. The rapid change in computing landscape resulting from these developments has not been matched by pedagogical developments needed to train the next generation of materials engineering cyberworkforce. This gap in curricula across colleges and universities offers a unique opportunity to create educational tools, enabling a decentralized training of cyberworkforce. 

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2. Science Gateway Development to aid Cyber and Software Automation for Neuroscience Researchers and Educators

   Calyam, P.; Nair, S.S (January 2018, 13th Gateway Computing Environments Conference (Gateways))

   Neuroscientists are increasingly relying on parallel and distributed computing resources for analysis and visualization of their neuron simulations. This requires expert knowledge of programming and cyberinfrastructure configuration, which is beyond the repertoire of most neuroscience programs. This paper presents early experiences from a one-credit graduate research training course titled ECE 8001 “Software and Cyber Automation in Neuroscience” at the University of Missouri for engendering multi-disciplinary collaborations between computational neuroscience and cyberinfrastructure students and faculty. Specifically, we discuss the course organization and exemplar outcomes involving a next-generation science gateway for training novice users on exemplar neuroscience use cases that involve using tools such as NEURON and MATLAB on local as well as Neuroscience Gateway resources. We also discuss our vision towards a course sequence curriculum for graduate/undergraduate students from biological/psychological sciences and computer science/engineering to jointly build “self- service” training modules using Jupyter Notebook platforms. Thus, our efforts show how we can create scalable and sustainable cyber and software automation for fulfilling a broad set of neuroscience research and education use cases. 

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3. 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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4. Scaling and Diversifying Undergraduate Research with the Early Research Scholars Program

   https://doi.org/10.1145/3545947.3569621  

   Alvarado, Christine; Mirza, Diba; Revelo, Renata A.; Thota, Neena (March 2022, ACM)

   Engaging undergraduates in research has been shown to improve retention, increase students' sense of computer science identity, and increase their chances of continuing to graduate school. Yet research experiences at most universities are ad hoc, and many undergraduates-particularly those from groups underrepresented in computing-do not have the opportunity to participate. The Early Research Scholars Program (ERSP) is a structured, academic-year group-based undergraduate research program designed to help universities vastly increase participation in research for early computing undergraduates. ERSP launched at UC San Diego in 2014 where it now annually engages over 50 second-year undergraduates, 59% of whom are women, and 22% of whom are from underrepresented racial and ethnic groups. The program's portable design has enabled its expansion to 7 other colleges and universities. This workshop will train participants in launching ERSP (or any part of it) at their university to increase and diversify the undergraduates participating in research. Workshop leaders are the ERSP directors at four universities. They will address how to launch and run the program in different contexts. They will provide an interactive, hands-on experience of running the program covering the following topics: developing and teaching a research methods class, student application and selection to ensure a diverse and supportive cohort, and creating a dual-mentoring structure to engage and retain early undergraduates without overburdening faculty. Workshop participants will be invited to join the ERSP virtual community to get support launching their own version of ERSP. 

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5. Software Challenges to Exascale Computing

   Majumdar, Amit; Arora, Ritu (March 2019, Second Workshop, SCEC 2018 Delhi, India, December 13–14, 2018 Proceedings)

   Supercomputers are used to power discoveries and to reduce the time-to-results in a wide variety of disciplines such as engineering, physical sciences, and healthcare. They are globally considered as vital for staying competitive in defense, the financial sector, several mainstream businesses, and even agriculture. An integral requirement for enabling the usage of the supercomputers, like any other computer, is the availability of the software. Scalable and efficient software is typically required for optimally using the large-scale supercomputing platforms, and thereby, effectively leveraging the investments in the advanced CyberInfrastructure (CI). However, developing and maintaining such software is challenging due to several factors, such as, (1) no well-defined processes or guidelines for writing software that can ensure high-performance on supercomputers, and (2) shortfall of trained workforce having skills in both software engineering and supercomputing. With the rapid advancement in the computer architecture discipline, the complexity of the processors that are used in the supercomputers is also increasing, and, in turn, the task of developing efficient software for supercomputers is further becoming challenging and complex. To mitigate the aforementioned challenges, there is a need for a common platform that brings together different stakeholders from the areas of supercomputing and software engineering. To provide such a platform, the second workshop on Software Challenges to Exascale Computing (SCEC) was organized in Delhi, India, during December 13–14, 2018. The SCEC 2018 workshop informed participants about the challenges in large-scale HPC software development and steered them in the direction of building international collaborations for finding solutions to those challenges. The workshop provided a forum through which hardware vendors and software developers can communicate with each other and influence the architecture of the next-generation supercomputing systems and the supporting software stack. By fostering cross-disciplinary associations, the workshop served as a stepping-stone towards innovations in the future. We are very grateful to the Organizing and Program Committees (listed below), the sponsors (US National Science Foundation, Indian National Supercomputing Mission, Atos, Mellanox, Centre for Development of Advanced Computing, San Diego Supercomputing Center, Texas Advanced Computing Center), and the participants for their contributions to making the SCEC 2018 workshop a success. 

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