Depending on your age, you probably have memories of high school classes incorporating computers into the curriculum. Maybe your first class with computing was an introduction to programming. If we go further back, it might have been playing Oregon Trail, a way for teachers to interest students in what computers were and how they could be used, as well as teaching them how dangerous dysentery was. But what if you had access to actual supercomputers in your class? Bob Gotwals, a computational science educator at the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics (NCSSM), made that happen for his students in 2015 when he developed a curriculum that included using resources like the Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center’s (PSC) Bridges. In those days, he used XSEDE to get his allocations. Today, he’s using ACCESS to bring High-Performance Computing (HPC) into his classrooms.
This one-of-a-kind program is an outstanding way to familiarize students with advanced research computing. NCSSM’s program is the largest in the country and offers classes online and in person. Students in these classes not only get experience using supercomputers, but they also learn how to incorporate them into research projects.
In the fall [workshop] we talk about high-performance computing. We talk specifically about Pittsburgh. We talk about Bridges-2 … In the morning we do a UNIX workshop because the kids don’t have any experience [with that operating system]. And then in the afternoon, they … create a job file using Gaussian 16 to do a simple calculation on water.
—Bob Gotwals, NCSSM
If you’re wondering about the results of such a program, you need look no further than his former students, who have gone on to produce peer-reviewed research in prestigious papers. You can read more about Gotwals’ unique program in the PSC article, High School Students Study Nanotechnology, AI Heart Disease Detection Using Bridges-2.
ACCESS resources can be used for all kinds of educational needs, like Gotwals’ program. If you’re an educator interested in bringing HPC to your classroom, visit the ACCESS Educator landing page to get started. ACCESS staff can also answer questions about how you can incorporate cyberinfrastructure into your classroom.
Resource Provider Institution(s): Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center (PSC)
Resources Used: Bridges-2
Affiliations: North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics
Funding Agency: NSF
Grant or Allocation Number(s): CHE160071
The science story featured here was enabled by the U.S. National Science Foundation’s ACCESS program, which is supported by National Science Foundation grants #2138259, #2138286, #2138307, #2137603, and #2138296.