Office of Research Computing

Category: News

Virginia-WHPC | Topic:Enriching Research Computing and Data (RCD) Careers By Dr. Scott Yockel | June 2025

Please join us to support the next virtual event from Virginia Women in High Performance Computing  (VA-WHPC)!

Topic: Enriching Research Computing and Data (RCD) Careers, Part 2

Time:1:00 pm – 2:00 pm EST June 24th, 2025

What

Join us for Part 2 of our RCD careers discussion with Scott Yockel, Ph.D., Research Computing Officer at Harvard. In this follow-up to his 2024 presentation, Dr. Yockel will share fresh insights on developing meaningful career paths in Research Computing and Data, with a focus on individual agency, staff support, and leadership beyond formal management roles. 

This session will explore strategies for skill-building, real-world leadership development experiences (like MOR Associates and CliftonStrengths), and emerging resources for training and advancement compiled by the CaRRC community. We’ll also set aside time for open discussion and Q&A  come with questions and ideas!

Register for this event: here!

Link: https://virginia.zoom.us/meeting/register/DyKGBN2gQGKY9Txg2UhMFA%20

Presenters:

• Dr. Scott Yockel, Harvard University: Dr. Scott Yockel serves as the University Research Computing Officer at Harvard, where he develops and advocates for university-wide research computing strategy, collaborating with faculty and university leadership to address emerging needs and secure funding. He is actively involved in national and regional initiatives like CaRCC and MGHPCC, leading projects such as the New England Research Cloud and Northeast Storage Exchange.

For more information please visit: https://va-whpc.org/event/save-the-date-rcd-careers-part-2/

This virtual event is jointly hosted by Virginia Commonwealth University, George Mason University, Virginia Tech, William & Mary, University of Richmond, Virginia Institute of Marine Science, Old Dominion University, and the University of Virginia.

VA-WHPC: Real Stories in HPC | February 25th @ 1pm EST

Please join us to support Virginia Women in High Performance’s (VA-WHPC) February Event!

Topic: Real Stories about Using HPC in Research

When

1:00 pm – 2:00 pm February 25th, 2025

What

This month, three graduate students will share their experiences using High-Performance Computing (HPC) in their research. Each speaker will give a 10-minute presentation on how they use HPC, the challenges they’ve faced, and how they developed the necessary skills to effectively utilize these resources. After each presentation, there will be time for questions and discussion. We look forward to seeing you there!

Register for this event here!

Link: https://virginia.zoom.us/meeting/register/yTjiPkdjRfKo3QRM-U_ZTQ

Moderator – Eric Walter – Director of Research Computing – William & Mary

Presenters:

• Mahshid Ahmadian is a Ph.D. candidate in System Modeling and Analysis, with a specialization in Statistics and Data Science at Virginia Commonwealth University. She is also a Virginia Sea Grant graduate fellow, where she integrates the fields of statistics, ecology, and fisheries science. Her research focuses on developing spatiotemporal models designed to analyze fish movement data. She has experience using high-performance computing (HPC) to process large-scale spatial data and implement computationally intensive statistical models.
Website: https://mahshidahmadian.weebly.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mahshidahmadian

• James Giroux is a PhD candidate working at the intersection of Nuclear Physics and Data Science at William and Mary. His research is focused primarily on applications of generative AI, Computer Vision, and Bayesian Deep Learning for physics event reconstruction.

• Karolina Naranjo-Velasco is a PhD candidate in Data Science at the University of Virginia and MSDS ’22 graduate. She brings a unique perspective as a Latina attorney specializing in constitutional law. Her research focuses on developing automations using HPC and AI tools for parsing legal documents and training language models to analyze texts. Beyond her technical contributions, she strengthens diversity in data science through conference leadership and mentorship of underrepresented STEM professionals.
Website: https://datascience.virginia.edu/people/karolina-naranjo-velasco

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/karolinaranjo/

X: https://x.com/karolinaranjo

For more information please visit: https://va-whpc.org/event/save-the-date-real-stories-a-using-hpc-in-research/

This virtual event is jointly hosted by Virginia Commonwealth University, George Mason University, Virginia Tech, William & Mary, University of Richmond, Virginia Institute of Marine Science, Old Dominion University, and the University of Virginia.

ORC Workshops For Spring 2025

We are excited to begin our Workshop series for Spring 2025, the first of which will be on The SLURM Scheduler on the HOPPER Cluster and is planned for this Thursday, 09/19/2024, at 11:00AM -12:00PM. All those using the cluster and planning to use the cluster are invited to attend.  

Introduction to Slurm and Running Jobs in Batch Mode  | 02/13/2025 | 11:00AM – 12:00PM EST  
Summary: This workshop will be an introduction to the cluster environment and using the job scheduler, SLURM, to run jobs interactively and in batch mode.   

Workshop Registration/Join Details:  

Registration/Sign in form: https://forms.office.com/r/LqPA5x519N   

Spring 2025 Planned Workshops: 

ORC Workshops for Spring 2025  
ORC Webinars Description Date Times 
Introduction to Slurm and Running Jobs in Batch Mode This workshop will be a detailed introduction to the cluster environment and using the job scheduler, SLURM, to run jobs interactively and in batch mode from the shell.  02/13/202511:00AM – 12:00PM  
Open OnDemand: Interactive Web Dashboard for Working on the Cluster This workshop will be a detailed introduction to the Open OnDemand web dashboard that can be used to run apps and other jobs on the cluster interactively. 02/20/202511:00AM – 12:00PM   
Running VS Code from OOD This workshop will cover correctly connecting to the cluster and using Visual Studio, both locally installed and the app from OOD 02/20/202511:00AM – 12:00PM  
Managing Python Packages with Conda and Python Virtual Environments This workshop will go into the different ways Python packages can be managed in the cluster environment using Conda and Python virtual environments both in batch mode from the command line and with Jupyter Notebooks and Jupyter Lab on the cluster.  02/27/202511:00AM – 12:00PM    
Running GPU Jobs Efficiently on the Cluster This workshop covers an introduction to the different GPU resources we have on the cluster and how to set up, run and monitor your GPU jobs in the most efficient way. 03/20/202511:00AM – 12:00PM  
Running and Monitoring Multi GPU Jobs on the Cluster This workshop will go over running and monitoring multi-gpu jobs based on Python Multi GPU training with DDP 03/27/202511:00AM – 12:00PM   
Running R on Hopper/ Biostats Workflows Running jobs and using R on the Cluster  11:00AM – 12:00PM  

Upcoming ORC events and workshops are normally posted on our website here while the workshop series and other training resources details can be found on our Training pages here.   

Please contact us at [email protected] if you have any questions.  

Virginia-WHPC: Join the Committee!

Are you a higher-ed student in Virginia or DC engaged in High Performance Computing (HPC)? Are you passionate about bridging the gender gap in HPC and promoting diversity and inclusion in the industry? Do you want to contribute to the planning of VA-WHPC community events?

If you answered YES to any of these questions, the VA-WHPC Committee invites you to join us! 

We are excited to bring together passionate individuals who want to promote diversity and inclusion in the HPC field. Our current members come from a wide range of universities, creating a vibrant community dedicated to supporting women and allies in HPC. Join us and make a difference!

Take a look at some of our events in the past!  VA-WHPC Past Events

Please fill out the form below by January 31st to let us know more about you! If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to email Jennifer Vo, VA-WHPC Administrative Assistant, at [email protected].

VA-WHPC Committee Interest Form

Mission: VA-WHPC off ers a welcoming space for women and allies in the HPC fi eld to connect and support each other. Through networking events and educational opportunities, VA-WHPC aims to bridge the gender gap in HPC and promote diversity and inclusion in the industry. By joining VA-WHPC, individuals can access valuable resources and build meaningful connections that enhance their professional growth and success in HPC.

VA-WHPC-committee-recruitment-flyer_finalDownload

ORC Open Office Hours Resumed 

Dear ORC Cluster Users, 

Walk-in office hours for The Office of Research Computing will resume starting this week of 1/21/2025. ORC staff will be available to assist users and answer questions. Walk-in Office hours will be held Monday through Thursday from 2:00 PM to 3:00 PM in Merten Hall 3112. Virtual Walk-in Office Hours will be held on Fridays 2:00 PM to 3:00 PM. 

Walk in Office Hours: Monday-Thursday – 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM Merten Hall Room 3112 
Virtual Walk-in Office Hours Friday – 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM https://gmu.zoom.us/j/95119571677 

See https://orc.gmu.edu/help/request-help/ for up to date Office Hours information. 

If you have any questions, please email us at [email protected].  

Biannual ORC Maintenance

The Hopper cluster will undergo biannual maintenance this January. Hopper will be unavailable between 6:00AM on Thursday, 01/16/2025 and the end of Friday, 01/17/2025 for scheduled maintenance. We plan to upgrade the compute, network, and storage infrastructure of the cluster during this maintenance window.   

Maintenance Schedule:  
– Start Time: Thursday, January 16, 6:00AM  
– End Time: Friday, January 17, End of Day  

Affected services:  

1. Login/Head and Compute Nodes: All login/head and compute nodes will be inaccessible. Users will not be able to log in or submit jobs during this time.  

2. Open On-Demand (OOD): The Open On-Demand (OOD) interface will be inaccessible. Users are advised to plan their activities accordingly and save any unsaved work.  

3. Storage and Related Services: Most storage services, including Samba and Globus, will have very limited and intermittent availability.   

4. Virtual Machines: Most virtual machines will have intermittent availability. Users with virtual machines should be prepared for potential interruptions in service.  

All SLURM partitions will be drained when the maintenance window starts. Any jobs started between now and the maintenance period must be timed to end before the maintenance window begins. When starting a job, make sure to set the time parameter in SLURM to less than 7 days and reduce it as the maintenance window gets closer, for example:  

We have provided a script named  ‘time-to-maintenance-window.py ‘ which you can run to generate an appropriate “–time” parameter for your scripts:

 >$ time-to-maintenance-window.py
A maintenance window scheduled to start on 2025-01-16 06:00:00.
Please use the following or smaller time limit. Note that some partitions have time limits less than 2-16:00:00.

SBATCH –time 2-16:00:00

 Please note that any jobs that are configured to run past the planned downtime dates will not start until after the maintenance is complete.   

The clusters should be back online by the end of 01/17/2025.    

  

If you have any questions or concerns, please email us at [email protected].   

VA-WHPC Student Lightning Talks

Topic: Student Lightning Talks III

What

On November 12th from 1-2 pm EST, VA-WHPC will be hosting 8-10 students as they give lightning talks on their research to members of the HPC community from across Virginia. Interested in giving a lightning talk? You’ll get 3 minutes and 1-2 slides to tell us all about your research. Don’t miss this chance to practice your presentation skills and share your research with a diverse audience! We are also asking for volunteers from the community to act as mentors for the presenters. Sign up to be a presenter or a mentor by October 24th!

A helpful guide on how to give a successful lightning talk is available here. 

Thank you for your participation, if you have more questions about this particular event, please feel to contact Haley Michel at [email protected]

Hosted by: Virginia Commonwealth University, George Mason University, Virginia Tech, William & Mary, University of Richmond, Virginia Institute of Marine Science, Old Dominion University, and the University of Virginia

VA-WHPC event, October 8th at 1pm: Women in Cybersecurity and Related Roles


Topic: Women in Cybersecurity and Related Roles

What

Join us for our October meeting to hear from female leaders in roles in and related to Cybersecurity.  Three speakers will discuss their aspects of their career and experiences in computing and security issues and will have time for questions about their roles.  Please join us for an interesting series of presentations.

When

Tuesday, October 8th 2024

1:00pm – 2:00pm 

Register Here 

Speakers:

  • Sarvani Chadalapaka  – Director, Cyberinfrastructure and Research Computing (CIRT), Office of Information Technology – UC Merced 

Sarvani Chadalapaka is the Director of Cyberinfrastructure and Research Technologies at the University of California, Merced, where she leads the strategy and development of research computing infrastructure to support diverse research initiatives. She is a speaker and committee member at conferences such as SuperComputing (SC), PEARC, Internet2 TechEx, Educause, and the Women in HPC (WHPC) Summit. Sarvani has held leadership roles, including Director of the WHPC Mentoring Program and an elected member of the Campus Champion Leadership Team. She has also served on the Internet2 Inclusivity (I2I) Steering Committee, UC Women in Tech (WIT), and currently serves on the Educause Research Computing and Data (RCD) Steering Committee. Her work in diversity and inclusion has been recognized with the Internet2 Inclusivity (I2I) award and the UC Tech DEI Leadership Silver Award.   

  • Iria Giuffrida – Assistant Dean for Academic and Faculty Affairs and Professor of the Practice of Law – W&M 

Iria Giuffrida is a Professor of the Practice of Law at William & Mary Law School and serves as the Assistant Dean for Academic & Faculty Affairs. Professor Giuffrida’s research focuses on the legal issues arising from the increasing use of artificial intelligence, the rapid growth of the Internet of Things (IoT), and related emerging technologies.  She is involved in grant-funded experiential projects aimed at creating a diverse talent pipeline for the cybersecurity industry and participates in other grant-funded projects such as those funded by the Commonwealth Cyber Initiative. 

  • Wendy Wilde – Information Security Officer & GLBA Program Officer – CNU 

Wendy L. Wilde is the Information Security Officer at Christopher Newport University.  She holds a Master of Science degree in Information Technology and is a Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP), ISC² and Certified Information Security Manager (CISM) from ISACA.  She has over twenty years experience in the field of Cybersecurity ranging from DOD operations to Higher Education. 

Moderator – Eric Walter – Director of Research Computing – William & Mary

This virtual event is jointly hosted by Virginia Commonwealth University, George Mason University, Virginia Tech, William & Mary, University of Richmond, Virginia Institute of Marine Science, Old Dominion University, and the University of Virginia.

ORC Workshops For Fall 2024

We are excited to begin our Workshop series for Fall 2024, the first of which will be on The SLURM Scheduler on the HOPPER Cluster and is planned for this Thursday, 09/19/2024, at 11:00AM -12:00PM. All those using the cluster and planning to use the cluster are invited to attend.  

  
The SLURM Scheduler on the HOPPER Cluster | 09/19/2024 | 11:00AM – 12:00PM EST  
Summary: This workshop will be an introduction to the cluster environment and using the job scheduler, SLURM, to run jobs interactively and in batch mode.   

Workshop Registration/Join Details:  

Registration/Sign in form: https://forms.office.com/r/LqPA5x519N   

Upcoming ORC Workshops for Spring 2024  

Date  Times  Title  Description  
09/26/2024  11:00AM – 12:00PM  Open OnDemand: An Interactive Web Dashboard for Working on the Cluster  This workshop will be a detailed introduction to the Open OnDemand web dashboard that can be used to run apps and other jobs on the cluster interactively.  
09/26/2024  11:00AM – 12:00PM  Running VS Code from Open OnDemand  This workshop will go over how to correctly use VS Code from the Open OnDemand dashboard while working on the cluster.  
10/03/2024  11:00AM -12:00PM  Managing Python Packages with Conda and Virtual Environments on the Cluster  This workshop will go into the different ways python packages can be managed in the cluster environment using conda and python virtual environments both in batch mode from the command line and with Jupyter Notebooks and Jupyter Lab on the cluster.  
10/10/2024 11:00AM -12:00PM  Gaussian on Hopper This workshop will cover running Gaussian on the cluster using both CPUs and GPUS with Slurm and from OOD with GaussView 
10/17/2024  11:00AM -12:00PM  Running GPU Jobs Efficiently on the Cluster  This workshop covers an introduction to the different gpu resources we have available on the cluster and how to set up and monitor your GPU runs on these resources in the most efficient way.  
10/24/2024 11:00AM -12:00PM  Pytorch DDP: Multi GPU Jobs on the Cluster This workshop will go over running and monitoring multi-gpu jobs based on Python Multi GPU training with DDP 
10/31/2024 11:00AM – 12:00PM using Gurobi on the Hopper Cluster This workshop will cover running jobs and using Gurobi on the Cluster 

Upcoming ORC events and workshops are normally posted on our website here while the workshop series and other training resources details can be found on our Training pages here.   

Please contact us at [email protected] if you have any questions.  

VA-WHPC: Enriching Research Computing and Data(RCD) Careers: Opportunities, Trends, and Defining Job Families for Professional Advancement

Virginia Women in HPC – Enriching Research Computing and Data(RCD) Careers: Opportunities, Trends, and Defining Job Families for Professional Advancement

What 

Join us at 1 PM EST on July 16, 2024, for an enriching session with Dr.Scott Yockel, Harvard University’s Research Computing Officer. Don’t miss this opportunity to learn from a leading advocate of advancements in RCD professions.

When

Tuesday, July 16th 2024  

1:00 pm – 2:00 pm

Register Now! 

Speaker:

Dr. Scott Yockel, is the University Research Computing Officer at Harvard. In this role, Scott works with researchers across campus to develop and champion a university-wide research computing strategy in support of Harvard’s research mission. Scott is focused on identifying emerging needs, engaging with faculty, school, and university leadership to articulate those needs, and identifying possible solutions and funding mechanisms. He is spearheading the implementation of these initiatives and articulating their success with concrete measures, as well as developing plans for the long-term sustainability of research computing at Harvard. Over the last several years, Scott has been deeply involved in national and regional efforts such as CaRCC and MGHPCC. In this newly expanded role, he will be more deeply engaged in these efforts that increasingly involve national-level cyberinfrastructure resources and the development and professionalization of research computing staff. For example, he is PI/co-PI on a number of externally funded projects, including the New England Research Cloud, Northeast Storage Exchange, and the NSF Center of Excellence, RCD-Nexus..

Moderator:

VA-WHPC Committee 

This virtual event is jointly hosted by Virginia Commonwealth University, George Mason University, Virginia Tech, William & Mary, University of Richmond, Virginia Institute of Marine Science, Old Dominion University, and the University of Virginia.