On the week of the 21st of February, Marshall University sent four Computer Science students to the National EPSCoR Cyberinfrastructure Student Engagement Program at Clemson University. The four students were exposed to many exciting cyberinfrastructure opportunities, including high performance computing, high throughput computing, virtual organizations, visualization and cloud services. Alex King, Mitchell Browning, Finley Hammond and Brendon Posey were the four students that were chosen for the EPSCoR event.
“While we were there we got to learn about Cyberinfrastructure from multiple speakers, including the current president of Tuskegee University. Also, we got to take a tour of the Palmetto Cluster, the 61st largest supercomputer in the world, and we got to tour CU ICAR; a $120 million dollar automotive research facility funded by BMW” said Alex. “Perhaps the best part of the program was getting to meet students from all over the country, including Alaska, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.”
Mitchell found the EPSCoR event as a great experience and enjoyed listening to the different speakers they had at the event: “This was a great learning experience and a way for us to make friends with people from all over the country. We also listened to speakers from different Cyberinfrastructure fields: Jim Bottum (CIO, Clemson University), Gilbert Rochon (President, Tuskegee University), Barr Von Oehsen (EPSCoR Director), and Laura McGinnis (Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center)” stated Mitchell. “The EPSCoR meeting in Clemson is the most fun and exciting thing I’ve ever done in my life. I really enjoyed meeting all of the people and making new friends.”
Brendon Posey had a similar experience: “It was great to be able to be around so many people that share the same passions as you, and discuss what each of us are doing at our respective universities. I also am really excited to take the knowledge that I learned at this conference back to Marshall University and try to implement some of things that we saw down at Clemson. I cannot wait to go to Salt Lake City, Utah this fall for SC12, it is going to be a great trip with a great group of people.”
What Finley enjoyed most about the event was that “…for three days I got to leave my hometown to see the cutting edge of Computer Science. I met some of the most interesting and intelligent people in the country, and I got to bring that experience back to the students and faculty. It renewed my passion for what I am trying to accomplish here at CITE. I cannot wait to reunite with the new friends I have made through the EPSCoR program, and I know I will have a similar experience in Salt Lake City, Utah this Fall at SC12.”
These four students will attend the next conference in Salt Lake City, Utah where they will participate as certified “Technical Student Volunteers” assisting in booths on the Exhibit Floor and performing other technical duties.
All four students would like to thank Dr. Wahjudi and retired Professor Fuller with their help in being accepted into the EPSCoR program.
Good job representing Marshall University and good luck with the upcoming conference in Salt Lake City!