Badia has been recognized with the Euro-Par Achievement Award in 2019, noting her work on parallel task-based programming models, workflow applications, and systems; the Dona TIC Award 2019 (Academia/Researcher category); and the International Symposium on High-Performance Parallel and Distributed Computing (HPDC) Achievement Award in 2021. In 2023, she was invited to become a member of the Institut d’Estudis Catalans, a private academic, scientific, and cultural institution dedicated to researching Catalan culture, further solidifying her status as a distinguished academic in her field.

As a longtime SC Conference participant, Badia has held diverse roles, including as an exhibitor, tutorial presenter, panelist, workshop organizer, invited speaker, poster author, and Birds of a Feather session organizer. She also has contributed her share of technical papers as both an author and presenter. For SC23, Badia took an even bigger leap by serving as Co-Chair (with Kathryn Mohror of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory) of the Technical Program. 

Researcher & Volunteer in Parallel

Notably, Badia’s substantial involvement with the SC Conference happens to coincide with her decision to pursue computing as a career. In her I AM HPC profile, Badia shares some of her journey thus far and where she still would like to see the computing research community evolve.   

Rosa M. Badia

Workflows and Distributed Computing Manager, Barcelona Supercomputing Center

Rosa on LinkedIN

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

Badia: One event significantly impacted me and made me want to belong and contribute more to the HPC community. I was already contributing to the European Center of Parallelism in Barcelona (CEPBA), the precursor of the Barcelona Supercomputing Center. At that time, I had the opportunity to attend SC02 in Baltimore—my first SC! I enjoyed the event so much and was so excited about the Technical Program, the Exhibits, and all the components of SC that when I left, I told myself I wanted to be more involved with this community.

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

Badia: During the last 15 years, I have done research on task-based programming models for different target platforms: multicore processors, GPUs, and distributed computing. For example, in SC06, we presented a paper about CellSs, a task-based programming model for the Cell processor. Also, from BSC, we proposed the tasking model, which has been adopted in the OpenMP specification. My recent research focuses more on distributed computing through the PyCOMPSs/COMPSs programming environment and on the development of workflows that combine traditional HPC simulations with artificial intelligence and data analytics. 

Q: In the past 35 years, what is the most significant overlooked breakthrough that has impacted the field in your eyes?

Badia: I am not sure I can identify any overlooked breakthrough. However, multiple innovations have impacted the field in recent years. To mention a few, the appearance of the multicore chips posed large challenges on how applications should be programmed or the heterogeneous architectures (mainly GPUs but also FPGAs). More recently, artificial intelligence has been changing the field a lot and is opening a considerable controversy regarding its impact on traditional modeling and simulation. 

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

Badia: Ideally, I would like [to make] more international collaboration possible. While there are initiatives that try to foster this, in the end, it isn’t easy. I see groups in different regions (United States, Europe, Asia) working on similar topics and sometimes duplicating efforts because there are no common funding instruments that enable real international collaboration. Unfortunately, it is something challenging to achieve since even regions with good political relationships have no programs allowing this collaboration. Another aspect that I will be happy to see change is gender and diversity in general. SC is doing an excellent job promoting it, but, in fact, the numbers in the institutions still show that there is a lot of work to be done. 

Q: What are you most looking forward to at SC23?

Badia: For almost the last two years, I have worked with Kathryn Mohror as Co-Chairs of the SC23 Technical Program. This has involved a committee of more than 500 members in eight program components. Although this has required a great effort from all of us, we are very excited about the forthcoming SC23 and wish for a very successful event. 

We are currently accepting panel submissions until April 28, 2023.

Engage the HPC Community

As a panelist at SC23, you will have the opportunity to share your ideas and insights with some of the foremost experts in the industry. You can network with other attendees, learn about the latest advances in HPC, and make a name for yourself as a thought leader in the field. This is a chance to engage the field while we’re all under one roof, so bring your hot takes, best practices, recipes for success, common pitfalls, and of course, an appetite for discussion.

Various panels, encompassing both technical and non-technical subjects, are highly recommended. This presents a chance for individuals of all backgrounds, including experts, HPC veterans, or novices, to partake in discussions relevant to the field. The most captivating panels combine compelling and diverse opinions – so don’t hesitate to step forward and express your thoughts.

Topics can remain in a particular subdomain, or apply to HPC more broadly. Panels at SC22 did both, including “Computing at the Edge: A Discussion about Supporting Recent US Space Missions” and “Relaxing Correctness via Approximate Computing: Is It Feasible in HPC?”. Panels can be forward-looking, asking open-ended questions that propose completely novel or revolutionary approaches with technologies yet to come. They can also be reflective, addressing the most prominent challenges and pains that many in the room had no doubt experienced.

Technical topics aren’t the only ones that gather an active crowd. Popular panels from years passed span a range of topics, such as “Strategies for Working Remotely: Sustainable Hybrid Approaches for HPC” from SC21, and “Empowering STEM Women with Skills for Success: How to Offset the Paradoxical Skills Asymmetry at a Workplace” from SC22.

SC23 Panels present an opportunity to try out new ideas, share experiences, and get feedback from the prominent figures in industry, academia, national laboratories, and everywhere in between. These interactive sessions foster a collaborative environment, enabling participants to learn, grow, and further refine their ideas while expanding their professional networks. Such a broad range of topics affords us all the opportunity to reflect on all of our experiences, both technical and non-technical, as we push the field forward into new frontiers. We invite you to join the discussion by submitting a panel proposal with up to five panelists, and we look forward to the lively debate that will ensue.

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