Broader Engagement
The SC09 Broader Engagement (BE) program is aimed at increasing the involvement of individuals who have been traditionally underrepresented in the High Performance Computing (HPC) field. The program will offer a number of special activities at SC09 to stimulate interest within the SC conferences and the HPC community in general. Competitive grants will be available to support travel to and participation in the SC09 Technical Program by underrepresented groups. We encourage applications from all computing-related disciplines, including research, education, or industry. Consideration will be given to applicants from groups that traditionally have been underrepresented in HPC, such as African-Americans, Hispanics, Native Americans, Alaska Natives, Native Hawaiians, Pacific Islanders, the physically challenged, and women.
The Broader Engagement Program will support more than 90 participants at SC09. We gratefully acknowledge the contributions of the National Science Foundation, Broadening Participation in Computing Program; Department of Defense (DoD) High Performance Computing Modernization Program; Sun Microsystems; and Empowering Leadership (EL) Alliance in making this possible.
The BE Program will consist of a number of specialized sessions designed specifically for students and early-career faculty and professionals. These sessions will discuss topics that include areas of mentoring, cybersecurity, and computational biology.
The following individuals will lead our BE specialized sessions:
Tiffani Williams, Ph.D., Texas A&M University: Title: High-Performance Algorithms for Analyzing Large Collections of Evolutionary Trees
Mary Ann Leung, Ph.D., Krell Institute: Pathways to Success: Navigating Academia and Your Career, Overcoming Obstacles, and Identifying Resources
Leisa D. Thompson, Ph.D., NCWIT: Underrepresented Groups in Computing: Research that Supports Recruitment, Retention, and Advancement
Jim Costa, Jamie Van Randwyk, Sandia National Laboratories, Carrie E. Gates, CA Labs, and Piotr (Peter) Zbiegiel, Argonne National Labs: Cybersecurity for a Changing World Panel
Ruud van der Pas, Senior Staff Engineer, Technical Developer Tools, Sun Microsystems: Master Your Multicore System Through Parallelization
Furthermore, the Broader Engagement Program will also host the following events for all SC Communities Participants:
Mentor/Protégé Program
Most people participating in the Broader Engagement, Student Volunteers, and Student Cluster Challenge programs are experiencing SC for the first time, which is an exciting but sometimes overwhelming experience. To help them make the most of their experience, the Mentor/Protégé Program hopes to match each participant (protégé) with a mentor who has attended SC before and who is willing to share their experiences. Matches will be made on the basis of similar technical backgrounds and interests.
Mentors may give their protégés as little or as much time as they can fit into their schedule – anything from a cup of coffee and a chat in the Mentor/Protégé Lounge, to a tour of the exhibit floor, to a day-long shadowing experience. Mentor/Protégé pairs set their own schedules, allowing for maximum convenience and flexibility. Protégé's will be required to attend the Mentor Program Special Activity “Developing Emerging Technologies Amidst a Global Social Climate of Change”. The social activity will consist of an orientation, panel discussion, breakout sessions, and overview of year-round mentoring programs. For more information contact mentoring@info.supercomputing.org.
SC09 Student Job Fair
Broader Engagement (BE), Student Volunteers, and Student Cluster Competition will jointly host the SC09 Student Job Fair for students participating in these programs. A face-to-face networking event will enable students in a summer job, graduate school assistantship, or permanent employment to meet with potential employers from any organization that is a contracted SC09 Exhibitor. If you are an Exhibitor, your company can host a table at the Job Fair, which also entitles you to an electronic copy of the resume book we will compile on all participating students. For more information please contact student-job-fair@info.supercomputing.org.
The SC09 Communities-Exhibitor Scavenger Hunt
The SC09 Communities-Exhibitor Scavenger Hunt The Broader Engagement Program invites participants of SC09 Communities to explore and interact with Exhibitors on the Exhibitor floor via the SC Communities-Exhibitor Scavenger Hunt. Exhibitors have the opportunity to promote their product/services portfolio, showcase their prized technologies and services, and highlight any unique or distinct features of their research/prototype present in their booth. The Scavenger Hunt invites participants of SC09 Communities to explore and interact with Exhibitors on the Exhibitor floor. To register as an exhibitor or sponsor prizes, please contact scavenger-hunt@info.supercomputing.org
Participation Grants
Grants are available through the BE Program to support participation in the SC09 Technical Program. Grant recipients will receive complimentary conference registration, hotel accommodations and travel assistance.
Participation grant applications opened April 2009 and were due August 17, 2009.
For more information contact be@info.supercomputing.org.
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