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2025 Midwest RCD Annual Meeting has ended
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Tuesday, April 15
 

7:30am EDT

Networking Breakfast
Breakfast Menu 
Hot Buffet
Choice of Two Entrées and Two Sides

Buffet Includes:
  •  Sliced Fresh Fruit and Strawberries (Vegan, MWOG-CI)
  • Seasonal Muffins (Vegetarian)
    • Includes *Made-Without-Gluten Blueberry Muffins
  • Assorted Pastries (Vegetarian)
  • Vegan Carrot Cake Bread


Entrée Options:
  • Spinach, Tomato, Mushroom, and Feta Frittata (Vegetarian, MWOG-CI)
  • Vegan Banana Chocolate Chip Pancakes with Local Maple Syrup (MWOG-CI)


Side Options:
  • Turkey Sausage Links (MWOG-CI)
  • Potatoes O'Brien (Vegan, MWOG-CI)

Steel-cut oatmeal station
Oatmeal station - vegan
On the side: raisins, brown sugar, dried cranberries and cinnamon

MWOG-CI: Made Without Gluten-Containing Ingredients

Beverages
  • Ice water
  • Starbucks regular coffee
  • Starbucks decaffeinated coffee
  • Assorted Numi hot tea
  • Orange juice

7:30am EDT

Registration/Welcome Table
Tuesday April 15, 2025 7:30am - 5:00pm EDT
Steering and Organizing Commit...
avatar for Esen Gokpinar-Shelton

Esen Gokpinar-Shelton

Program Manager, Pervasive Technology Institute, Indiana University Bloomington
avatar for Laura Pettit

Laura Pettit

Program Manager, Indiana University
avatar for Robert Ping

Robert Ping

Program Management Specialist, Indiana University
In 2023, he accepted program and project management responsibilities for Jetstream2 and the Midwest Research Computing and Data Consortium where he facilitates the success of the National Science Foundation-sponsored programs.As RDA-US Program Manager, he oversees the multiple projects... Read More →
Tuesday April 15, 2025 7:30am - 5:00pm EDT

8:30am EDT

8:50am EDT

Keynote Presentation: Quantum Computing at Cleveland Clinic: Advancing Research Through Collaboration and Innovation
Quantum computing is poised to revolutionize the landscape of scientific research, offering unprecedented capabilities to solve complex problems beyond the reach of classical systems. In this talk, Dr. Daniel Blankenberg, a computational biologist at the Cleveland Clinic, will provide an accessible introduction to quantum computing, outlining its foundational principles and its growing role in healthcare and life science research.

A key focus will be the transformative partnership between Cleveland Clinic and IBM, highlighting how collaboration accelerates advancements. We discuss how quantum computing enhances research efforts across disciplines, from drug discovery to data analysis, sharing successes that showcase the potential for real-world impacts. Finally, the talk will explore the future of quantum computing including emerging challenges, promising developments, and the next steps for leveraging quantum technology to drive scientific breakthroughs. Whether you are new to quantum computing or an experienced researcher, this talk will offer valuable insights into how quantum innovation is shaping the future of life science research and beyond.
Speakers
DB

Daniel Blankenberg

Assistant Professor of Molecular Medicine, Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine
Daniel Blankenberg, PhD, is an Associate Staff in the Center for Computational Life Sciences of the Cleveland Clinic Lerner Research Institute, and is an Assistant Professor of Molecular Medicine in the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine of Case Western Reserve University... Read More →

9:40am EDT

Panel: Best Practices in Deploying AI Chatbots
Several HPC centers are exploring how to provide and user LLM-based chat interfaces for both research and client support use cases. We will present, share lessons learned and answer your questions for three such projects in this session.

  1. QA Tool for ACCESS - an AI-driven information retrieval system using Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) and LLMs, delivering relevant, independent query responses while continuously improving through feedback and data updates.
  2. AnvilGPT is a Generative AI platform hosted at Purdue University through the Anvil ACCESS resource. It offers researchers nationwide access to various open-source large language models via chat and API interfaces, aiming to enhance productivity and develop AI-enabled scientific workflows.
  3. The hpcGPT project seeks to transform HPC user support by creating a generative AI-powered question-answering service. This conversational interface will address policy inquiries, technical suggestions, performance issues, and debugging.
Moderators
avatar for Karen Tomko

Karen Tomko

Director of Research Software Applications, Ohio Supercomputer Center
Speakers
avatar for Vikram Gazula

Vikram Gazula

Research Facilitator, University of Kentucky
EG

Erik Gough

Senior Research Scientist, Purdue University
avatar for Heechang Na

Heechang Na

Scientific Applications Operations Manager, Ohio Supercomputer Center

10:40am EDT

Group Photo & Networking Break
Tuesday April 15, 2025 10:40am - 11:10am EDT
Beverages
  • Ice water
  • Starbucks regular coffee
Tuesday April 15, 2025 10:40am - 11:10am EDT

11:10am EDT

Breakout 1: Experiences with Globus Compute
This session will be an open discussion format to get an overview of Globus Compute and for attendees to share their experiences or ask questions. The goal of this session is to give attendees an opportunity to learn more about Globus Compute and how they may support it in their respective environments. Of particular interest is the differences between Single-User and Multi-User. It is hoped that the pros and cons can be discussed.

Agenda:
- Globus team to present overview of Globus Compute (slides PPT):
Lee Liming

- Call on some attendees to share their experiences
Geoffrey Lentner Purdue
Todd Raeker University of Michigan

- Attendee questions and discuss.
Moderators
TR

Todd Raeker

Research Experience Manager, University of Michigan
My role at UMich ARC is to provide support to our user base. This involves management of three teams, Helpdesk, Software Support and Data Science Consulting service. I have been a long time advocate of Globus services at Michigan and have arranged a number of Globus workshops at Michigan... Read More →
Speakers
avatar for Lee Liming

Lee Liming

Director, Professional Services (Globus), University of Chicago
I can tell you all about Globus, our services, how we're being used in data repositories and connected instrument facilities, and our subscriptions for campuses and other research organizations. I'm also part of the ACCESS Operations team, focused on integrating resources (esp. storage... Read More →
avatar for Geoffrey Lentner

Geoffrey Lentner

Lead Research Data Scientist, Purdue University
Lead Data Scientist. Astrophysicist. Research Software Engineer. Expert in high-performance computing (HPC), advanced data processing, mathematics and statistics. I lead campus-facing research facilitation, support, sponsored projects, and innovation. I specialize in data, workflow... Read More →

11:10am EDT

Breakout 2: OS Upgrades in an HPC: Moving from CentOS to Ubuntu
A discussion of why the Institute for Cyber Enabled Research (ICER) at Michigan State University transitioned the installed High Performance Computing Cluster of over 1,000 hardware nodes from CentOS 7.9 to Ubuntu 22.04 and the operating system upgrade process. Specific items covered include constraints, challenges, operating system evaluation, software deployment, and the process used to transition over 2500 active users to using the new operating system for research computing.
Speakers
avatar for Joe Ryan

Joe Ryan

HPC Systems Administrator, Michigan State University
HPC administrator working on system upgrades, singularity containers, and software/module deployment improvements.

12:00pm EDT

Networking Luncheon
Lunch MenuCreate-Your-Own Pasta Bar (Double-Sided)Your Choice of:
  • Two Pastas
  • Two Proteins
  • Two Sauces
Includes:
  • House-Made Garlic Bread (Vegetarian)
  • Little Italy Salad: Custom Italian salad with mixed greens, black olives, pepperoncini, cherry tomatoes, and red onion (Vegan, MWOG-CI)
    • On the Side: Herb Croutons, Parmesan Cheese (Vegetarian)
    • On the Side: Italian Dressing (Vegan, MWOG-CI)
Pasta Options:
  • Linguini (Vegan)
  • Pasta Made Without Gluten-Containing Ingredients (MWOG-CI)
Protein Options:
  • Grilled Chicken Breast (MWOG-CI)
  • Sicilian Beef Meatballs
Sauce Options:
  • Marinara (Vegan, MWOG-CI)
  • Alfredo (Vegetarian, MWOG-CI)
MWOG-CI: Made Without Gluten-Containing Ingredients

Beverages
  • Ice water
  • Starbucks regular coffee
  • Starbucks decaffeinated coffee
  • Assorted Numi hot tea
  • Unsweetened iced tea 
  • Lemonade

12:50pm EDT

Lightning Talks
PRESENTATION 1: Stephen Deems, Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center (12 mins)
Building On-Ramps to the NSF ACCESS Ecosystem The NSF ACCESS program connects your institution’s researchers and educators to a range of national-scale computing systems—at no cost to you or them. This talk will introduce campus IT staff to the ACCESS program and the services it offers. We will also describe ACCESS On-Ramps, a new feature developed by the ACCESS Allocations team that lets campus IT staff share ACCESS resource information with your campus community. Our goal is to help researchers find out about ACCESS in the first place they go for IT information—their campus IT websites.

PRESENTATION 2: Geoffrey Lentner, Purdue University (12 mins)
HyperShell: A user-facing tool for high-throughput scheduling of small jobs We’ve been crafting a user-facing tool for high-throughput computing scenarios for the past 5 years. The HyperShell software is a command-line tool that fits somewhere between GNU Parallel and HTCondor, with HPC user ergonomics and features in mind. It allows for users to run millions of small jobs, automate "pilot job" workflows, or make better use of large GPUs for packing smaller jobs in parallel. Currently, we are focused on user education, workshops, and outreach. The goal of this presentation will be to share the essential concepts and functionality of HyperShell with other center staff who may be in a position to facilitate researchers who might benefit from this capability. https://hypershell.org https://github.com/hypershell/hypershell

PRESENTATION 3: Joseph Tang, Ohio Super Computing Center (12 mins)
Backup Validation at the Ohio Supercomputer Center: A Belt and Suspenders Approach We present our current large data restoration and backup validation scheme at the Ohio Supercomputer Center (OSC).  There are approximate 12 PiB data and ~ 3 billion files stored in Project (ESS) and NetApp storage systems at OSC, and it is critical to efficiently restore data and validate the fidelity of backups. It is essential for maintaining business continuity, especially in disaster recovery scenarios.  Per NIST 800-53 compliance frameworks, we employ acceptance sampling concepts and statistical models estimating the amount of sample sizes, as it is not practical to restore 10+ PB of data with billions of files at once.  Projects / filesets are divided into collocation groups, so we could apply level of parallelism with group of nodes and reduce serialization due to large data volume from one node when migrating data from disks to tapes.  We employ “no query restore” from IBM Storage Protect with multiple sessions and restore data from filesets in the same collocation group, so the data could be restored efficiently.  Restored data are validated by comparing checksum of original files in snapshots with checksum of restored files using in-house developed scripts.  A typical restore test is 110 – 140 TiB data.  In the end, we discuss the current challenges and future directions about data restoration.

PRESENTATION 4: Preston Smith, Purdue University (12 mins)
Updates on statistical models for presenting the value of RCD investments
This presentation will discuss new research in modeling RCD value: specifically production function models across multiple institutions, and a work in progress effort for institutional benchmarking as a function of a university’s research output. Participants will learn best practices in carrying their value statement back to administration, and tools for benchmarking against peer institutions.


Q/A Session (~10 Minutes)





Speakers
avatar for Stephen Deems

Stephen Deems

Director of Strategic Initiatives, Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center
avatar for Geoffrey Lentner

Geoffrey Lentner

Lead Research Data Scientist, Purdue University
Lead Data Scientist. Astrophysicist. Research Software Engineer. Expert in high-performance computing (HPC), advanced data processing, mathematics and statistics. I lead campus-facing research facilitation, support, sponsored projects, and innovation. I specialize in data, workflow... Read More →
avatar for Preston Smith

Preston Smith

Executive Director, Purdue University
JT

Joseph Tang

HPC Storage Engineer, Ohio SuperComputer Center

1:50pm EDT

Data Access vs. Monetization – Finding the Right Balance
This session will be a mix of presentation and interactive discussion using Mentimeter.
Speakers
avatar for Benjamin Lynch

Benjamin Lynch

Director, Minnesota Supercomputing Institute

2:35pm EDT

Networking Break: Enjoy Popcorn, Sweet Treats, and Coffee
Tuesday April 15, 2025 2:35pm - 2:55pm EDT
Popcorn Selection:
  • Movie Theater Butter Popcorn
  • Cheddar Popcorn
  • Caramel Popcorn
Mini Shortbread Cookies
  • Seasonal: Espresso Shortbread Cookies with Chocolate Drizzle 
  • *Seasonal: Strawberry Lemon Shortbread Cookies 
Brownies and Bars
  • Chocolate Brownies 
  • Vegan Flourless Chocolate Brownies (MWG-CI)
Mini Dessert Shooters
  • Lime Mousse with Layers of Yellow Cake and Lime Curd 
  • Seasonal: Lemon Mousse with Layers of Lemon Curd and Blueberries (Vegan)
MWG-CI: Made Without Gluten-Containing Ingredients

Beverages
  • Ice water
  • Starbucks regular coffee
  • Starbucks decaffeinated coffee
  • Lemonade


Tuesday April 15, 2025 2:35pm - 2:55pm EDT

2:55pm EDT

Breakout 3: ICICLE Middleware Development for AI & Advanced Computing
Overview of ICICLE Project (5 minutes)
Beth Plale, Co-Principal Investigator, ICICLE Project

Presentation of ICICLE Products/Resources (5 minutes/per presentation)
  • Patra Model Cards/CI Knowledge Network        
Sachith Withana, Indiana University 
  • Performance Prediction Model for LLMs on GPUs
Biyao Zhang, Case Western Reserve University
  • Smart Scheduler
Swathi Manikya Vallabhajosyula, Ohio State University
  • Labeling Copilot - An Auto-labeling Tool
Debargha Ganguly, Case Western Reserve University


Panel : ICICLE Engages the MWRCD Community (25 minutes)
Karen Tomko, Ohio State University, Moderator

Panelists:
Beth Plale, Indiana University
Preston Smith, Purdue University
Jane Combs, University of Cincinnati
Moderators
avatar for Karen Tomko

Karen Tomko

Director of Research Software Applications, Ohio Supercomputer Center
Speakers
avatar for Jane Combs

Jane Combs

Director, UC Advanced Research Computing Center, University of Cincinnati
avatar for Debargha Ganguly

Debargha Ganguly

PhD Student, Case Western Reserve University
avatar for Beth Plale

Beth Plale

Executive Director, Indiana University/Research Data Alliance US
Data management, knowledge management, AI democratization, open science, RDA-US
avatar for Preston Smith

Preston Smith

Executive Director, Purdue University
avatar for Swathi Vallabhajosyula

Swathi Vallabhajosyula

Graduate Student Assistant, The Ohio State University
avatar for Sachith Withana

Sachith Withana

Research Scientist, Indiana University
BZ

Biyao Zhang

PhD Candidate, Case Western Reserve University

2:55pm EDT

Breakout 4: Security & Compliance: Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certificate (CMMC) for DoD Research
Are researchers at your university talking about CMMC? Are you involved in planning-for or providing secure compute services and platforms for CMMC? Do you have a story to share about building a CMMC environment? Our discussion will cover:

  1. A brief overview of CMMC and different levels of assessment)
  2. How we understand and involve researchers in meeting their needs, in building a secure environment.
  3. Discuss potential solutions (cloud, on-prem), and the associated assessments needed.
  4. Stories from universities who may have such an environment now; how they built it, how they funded it, how they operate it sustainably
Speakers
avatar for Todd Shechter

Todd Shechter

CTO, University of Wisconsin, Madison

3:50pm EDT

Social Network Analysis - Activity
Speakers
avatar for Esen Gokpinar-Shelton

Esen Gokpinar-Shelton

Program Manager, Pervasive Technology Institute, Indiana University Bloomington
avatar for Winona Snapp-Childs

Winona Snapp-Childs

PI Midwest RCD Consortium; Director Research Partnerships, Indiana University
avatar for Sachith Withana

Sachith Withana

Research Scientist, Indiana University

4:20pm EDT

Closing Remarks
Speakers
avatar for Winona Snapp-Childs

Winona Snapp-Childs

PI Midwest RCD Consortium; Director Research Partnerships, Indiana University
 
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