When Aiden Hamade, a senior at the University of Kentucky (UK), applied for a research position with the school’s U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) ACCESS team, he wasn’t entirely sure what he was getting into. The opportunity had come through an email from his counselor during his sophomore year, inviting computer science majors to apply. All Aiden knew was that the position involved supercomputers, and he was eager to gain hands-on software development experience.

Fast-forward two years, and Hamade’s work with ACCESS has done more than just fill his resume – it’s transformed him into a confident and skilled software developer, equipped with real-world experience in everything from coding to team leadership.

As part of the ACCESS team at UK, Hamade and his undergraduate peers have had access to supercomputers like DARWIN, Delta, Jetstream2, Stampede3 and more. Although the team didn’t always use these powerful machines directly, their work provided critical support to the broader research community.

“When we first started, we spent months learning about ACCESS resources and familiarizing ourselves with the various supercomputers,” Hamade explained. Their initial project, the ACCESS Resource Advisor (ARA), was designed to help users determine which resource best suited their research needs. The tool has been a huge success, guiding users to the right HPC resources based on a point system the team developed.

“ARA was Aiden’s first big project and he contributed through writing code, doing research and creating presentation materials,” said UK Center for Computational Sciences Director Jim Griffioen, who has supervised Hamade’s work over the past two years. “The impact of this work was immediate, making ACCESS resources more accessible to a wider community. Aiden’s efforts to research and understand the ACCESS resources highlighted the important need for a tool that could help new users identify the best resources for their research.” 

Following the success of ARA, Hamade said the team moved on to their second project – the Software Documentation Service (SDS). Launched this past summer, SDS allows users to look up specific software on each supercomputer – simplifying the process for researchers when composing their ACCESS allocation requests.

While Hamade was originally one of the youngest members on UK’s ACCESS team, he quickly grew into a leadership role. After the student team’s leader, Sandesh Lamichhane, graduated from the Master’s program, Hamade stepped up as the lead. Though his time in the role was short – he left for a 10-week internship at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) over the summer – it helped him build essential skills in managing a team and projects.

Upon his return from ORNL to the team, Hamade began working on an API that allows users to download software information from the SDS database, further streamlining research workflows. Throughout his time on the team, Hamade has embraced every opportunity to learn and grow, diving into coding languages like HTML, JavaScript, Python and SQL as well as learning about APIs, unit testing, automation and full-stack development.

While the technical experience Hamade gained has been invaluable, what stands out most to him are the lessons learned from working alongside a close-knit team of talented computer science students. “I’ve had the privilege of working with incredibly intelligent peers who actively help each other grow,” he reflected. “Every person on this team has learned something new from someone else.”

In addition to technical skills, Hamade also developed a deep understanding of agile methodologies, the software development lifecycle and how to use GitHub – all essential skills for anyone entering the world of software development. “These systems are deployed by most companies that create software, so the experience I’ve gained here is truly invaluable to my future career.”

As graduation approaches, Hamade feels well-prepared to enter the workforce, thanks in large part to his time with ACCESS.

This experience has turned me from a student with a basic understanding of computer science into a confident software developer with an extensive toolkit. Looking ahead, I am excited to apply the skills gained in future roles, particularly in fields that involve supercomputing and software development.

–Aiden Hamade,  University of Kentucky student research intern

“The ACCESS program provided Aiden an excellent opportunity to learn about high-performance computing and advanced cyberinfrastructure systems and technologies. Aiden’s efforts help develop tools that support our ACCESS user community. This experience will expand Aiden’s career options and help him build a successful future,” said UK Center for Computational Sciences Associate Director Anthony Elam. “We are very grateful to ACCESS for supporting our students and having these great opportunities.”