Here are some of the exciting Students@SC events coming up in Denver, with the information students need to sign up and move ahead on their HPC journey.

“Don’t Miss” Events for Students

alumni networking event

The Alumni Networking Event aims to help students make the connections they need to be successful in their future careers. Over a complimentary lunch on Tuesday, November 14 from 12-1:30 pm, students can meet new and former members of the Students@SC program as they create the lifelong connections that make HPC (and the SC Conference) such a tight-knit community.

This event is open to all members of the SC23 Student Program, including Student Volunteers, Student Cluster Competition, HPC Immersion, Broader Engagement, and HPC for Undergraduates, as well as alumni of these programs.

There is no deadline to apply to attend the Alumni Networking Event, and registrations will be accepted until the event has reached capacity.

Co-sponsored by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and Students@SC, the Speed Mentoring Event is for students who want to get into the exciting field of HPC. The goal is to connect students with experienced mentors from academia, industry, and national laboratories who can share real-world advice on how to advance their careers—all in 10- to 15-minute meet-up “bursts.”

On Wednesday, November 15 from 12-1:30 pm, students will participate in a series of mentorship activities, including timed discussions with mentors, which will include questions from students. Lunch will be provided.

Any student who would like to participate in this unique speed mentoring event must register to reserve a seat.

Mentor–Protégé Matching

Mentor-Protégé Matching places students with experienced mentors who can guide them through the entire SC23 experience.

Mentor-Protégé “matches” are based on multiple factors, including research interests, career goals, long-term plans, and general interests.

Information gleaned from the protégé survey and mentor survey facilitates these matches. As such, any students or mentors interested in the program must complete their respective survey before Wednesday, November 1.

Guided Interest Groups (GIGs) are community learning experiences where students shepherd participants through the SC Technical Program.

Participating students must attend sessions chosen by the GIG leaders, as well as short pre- and post-session discussions facilitated by the leader. A GIG kickoff meeting and social event will be held on Sunday, November 12 at 5:30 pm.

Once students have registered and received registration confirmation for a specific GIG, they will be put in contact with the GIG leader. The leaders will send all meeting invitations directly to the GIG participants.

For SC23, GIGs likely will span a variety of HPC topics, including performance analysis and optimization, machine learning, parallel architectures, graph applications, sustainable computing, and software tools. See the GIG webpage for full details and sign up!

Lightning Talks

The Students@SC Program invites students to partake in Lightning Talks, which are short, focused presentations that showcase the broader significance of research or projects (notably, this rapid-fire presentation style originated within the computing community). These compelling sessions will be held at the Student Headquarters and the SCinet Theater. 

Stay tuned for more details on how to sign up for these thrilling talks that will introduce you to the SC community.

Enhancing Connections

As part of his outreach, Lam actively encourages every SC23 attendee, especially the many conference “veterans,” to make themselves available and open when seeing new faces at the workshops, on the panels, at the tutorials, among the exhibits, or even in the hallways. To Lam, the future of computing likely will begin with those individuals who realize their place in the community starting right now, where they can see themselves and say, “I Am HPC.”

Michael (Mike) Lam

Associate Professor of Computer Science, James Madison University

Mike on LinkedIN

Q: What single event most made you realize you wanted a career in HPC/computing?

Lam: The first SC Conference I attended was SC09 in Portland, Oregon. I was a graduate student at the time, and my research lab shared a booth on the exhibit floor. The conference itself was such an intriguing experience, and I really enjoyed sharing my work with the community. I’ve returned to SC every year since then except for SC14, which I missed because I was starting a new position at the time.

Q: What do you consider your biggest contribution to the HPC/computing community?

Lam: For SC20, I was asked to run Mentor–Protégé Matching. That year, obviously, did not go according to plan because of COVID-19. During the “lockdown” summer, I proposed and executed a plan for a new Mentor–Protégé Matching component where participants who signed up early were matched several months before the conference and began virtual engagement with guided activities in the months leading up to the conference. The goal was to help people establish new mentoring relationships and grow those relationships even when physical meetings were not possible. This additional early-matching component was continued for SC21 and SC22 and will be in place for SC23 as well. 

Q: What would you like to see change about, within, or among the HPC/computing community?

Lam: Personally, I would love to see less cynicism among computing communities in general. Snark and insults are satisfying to air. It is very tempting to show off one’s technical expertise during conversation by criticizing with humor, but this discourages innovation and experimentation. Keeping conversations positive and constructive requires more effort, but I believe it is an important part of building a stronger and more inclusive community.

Q: Can you share any “words of wisdom” for those new to HPC or curious about the SC Conference and how they may fit in?

Lam: One of the most important facets of an in-person conference is the “hallway track,” a term that is often used to refer to spontaneous interactions between attendees, often outside of (but facilitated by) a formal conference event. These interactions are especially important for the more junior members of the community (i.e., students and early-career individuals) because it allows them to network with others in the community and (hopefully!) to see good behaviors modeled by the more senior members of the community.

As the chair of the SC23 Student Networking and Mentoring subcommittee, I encourage SC attendees to participate in programs like our Mentor–Protégé Matching program, where mentors are paired up with students for one-on-one mentoring. This is a great opportunity to help make the benefits of the “hallway track” a bit more deliberate. I would also encourage all SC attendees to make an extra effort to reach out to students they encounter at the conference and to make an effort to include them in conversations and social interactions.

I will also be the Students@SC chair for next year, and, in that role, I’m excited to help facilitate opportunities for all students who attend SC to feel welcome and included and to maximize the benefits of attending the conference. Students are quite literally the future of our community, and I look forward to working with the rest of the SC24 Executive Committee to build the best conference experience possible for them.

Participate in Mentor–Protégé

This program matches mentors who have a wealth of industry and SC experience with students who are just starting out their careers. This year, early applications will be accepted on August 1 while later applications will begin on September 2. 

Reaping the Rewards

For many mentors, the program is a way to repay a kindness from early on in their own careers, as well as foster a welcoming environment within the HPC community. 

Adam Hough

HPC Systems Architect and Project Manager, Shell

Adam on Linkedin

“Mentorship for me is just how I pay forward the mentorship that I received from Isaac and Kathy Traxler as they mentored me when I joined Louisiana State University’s HPC group,” says Adam Hough, an HPC systems architect and project manager at Shell and a former SC mentor.”

“There is a need for more HPC professionals, and the way to create more is to mentor and expose younger generations to all the HPC opportunities that are available.” — Hough

Easing the Transition

HPC can feel like a complex and daunting field to enter for newcomers. Mentor–Protégé Matching aims to ease this transition for incoming students while also giving experienced mentors a means of connecting with new talent. 

While the program abounds in stories of success between mentors and proteges, Suren Byna’s experience mentoring Jean Luca Bez during SC20 is a specific example of the mutually beneficial nature of this unique SC experience.

Suren Byna

Professor of Computer Science and Engineering, The Ohio State University

Suren at OSU

Byna is a Professor of Computer Science and Engineering at The Ohio State University and a Visiting Faculty Scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL). He has also been part of Mentor–Protégé Matching at SC since 2015. He states that his time working with Bez was not only a great opportunity to teach, but one where he saw the distinct benefits of working with new talent. 

“I enjoy the inquisitive nature of those participating as protégés. Some of these questions remind me of situations I went through in my career.” — Byna 

“I came to know that Jean Luca had been planning for a post-Ph.D. career and was still thinking about where to join. I shared my experience with industry labs and national lab research environments. At the same time, I had a position open in my group and encouraged Jean Luca to apply. Without much hesitation, he applied, and we hired him. As expected, Jean Luca has been performing well during the past two years.”

Finding reliable talent can be a struggle, and Mentor–Protégé Matching is a great resource for meeting and evaluating the next generation of HPC experts. As a result of his experience, Byna encourages his colleagues to participate in mentorship whenever possible. 

jean Luca Bez

Data Management Research Scientist, Berkeley Lab

jean Luca at Berkeley Lab

Bez is also quite emphatic about the positive opportunities offered by the program. 

“Suren and I were paired because of our similar interest in I/O, Storage, and Data Management and my interest in learning more about research opportunities and careers in national laboratories,” says Bez.

“We continued to correspond and interact throughout the year, and our relationship grew. His openness, willingness to help, and encouragement gave me key insights into my upcoming career decisions. I can honestly say that this experience was life-changing and helped shape my current path.” — Bez

Unsurprisingly, Bez has extremely positive memories of the program. Not only was he offered an exciting postdoctoral research opportunity at LBNL, he was also able to grow in this position and was recently offered a position as a Career-Track Researcher at LBNL. 

New Friendships, New Opportunities

Although every Mentor–Protégé Matching story is unique, the outcomes are generally the same – new friendships, new opportunities, and new ways to think about problems. While Bez and Byna’s experience showcases how important the program is in setting up career opportunities, Hough also points out that his time with protégés exposes him to different viewpoints and helps him to diversify his own thoughts. 

Of course, all three are emphatically in favor of both potential mentors and protégés signing up for the program. 

“Every year, when I talk to new students, I recommend they sign up for this program and tell them my story and experience, hoping it would spark their interest in participating,” says Bez.

“I would also add for those that are beyond convinced that this is a good program to be open and honest with your mentor and take advantage of every interaction you have with them. My mentor was kind enough to share his experiences and his story and was open to listening to my concerns and dreams.” — Bez

Get Ready to Sign Up