HPC User Training

Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center offers a variety of workshops on subjects ranging from code optimization and parallel programming to specific scientific topics. These workshops can be conducted at PSC or off-site.

Agendas and online notes from recent workshops are listed below.

Workshops incorporate both lectures and extensive hands-on sessions. Programming exercises are carefully designed to reinforce concepts and techniques taught in class.

Instructors have strong scientific and technical backgrounds and are available for individual consultation, including help with participants' own coding needs, during lab sessions.

Biomedical workshops, sponsored by the National Resource for Biomedical Supercomputing, cover many aspects of biomedical computing research.

For questions regarding our workshop program, please send e-mail to workshop@psc.edu.

Agendas and Lecture Notes

Agendas and lecture notes for recent workshops are listed below. For more information about PSC's education, outreach and training programs, see http://outreach.psc.edu or View upcoming training events.

Multi-core Programming and Performance Tuning, March 23-26, 2009

Intel Corporation experts presented the latest architectures and how to take advantage of them for modeling and simulation codes, focusing on the upcoming generation of very large shared memory machines.
>>Review Presentations and Info

TeraGrid New User Training, January 30, 2009

The session was delivered using ReadyTalk web-based teleconferencing, and included hands-on opportunities. Multiple topics were covered including Portal Overview, TeraGrid Knowledge Base, Accessing Resources, etc.
>> Download the TeraGrid New User Intro Presentation

TeraGrid New User Training, October 31, 2008

Hybrid Programming for Shared-Memory and Clustered SMP Systems, September 8-11, 2008

Programming models and techniques for writing efficient parallel code on contemporary and future supercomputers with extensive shared memory, or hierarchical architectures with smaller shared-memory components were presented. Two important systems to which these techniques apply are the SGI Altix and networked clusters of multi-core processors.

Parallel Computing, December 13-15, 2007

This workhop focused on parallel computing theory and applications.

Towards Multicore Petascale Applications, August 27-29, 2007

PSC hosted a workshop on optimizing applications for highly scalable multicore architectures, focusing on the PSC's Cray XT3 (BigBen).

Introduction to the Cray XT3, August 21-24, 2006

This introduction to the use of PSC's newest supercomputer, the Cray XT3, was aimed at scientists and engineers, including current and prospective users of NSF's Teragrid systems and other leading edge resources.

MARC - Developing Bioinformatics Programs, July 17-28, 2006

This two week course, directed towards faculty, students and staff at MARC program institutions, had the goal of preparing the participants to teach bioinformatics courses at their local campuses. Interested individuals associated with a MARC program institution were encouraged to apply, including faculty from diverse departments, including biology, chemistry, physics, mathematics, statistics, computer science, and engineering.

Challenges of Large Applications in Distributed Environments, June 19, 2006

For the fourth year, the Challenges of Large Applications in Distributed Environments (CLADE) workshop was held in conjunction with the IEEE International Symposium on High Performance Distributed Computing. The HPDC symposium was held in Paris, France.

TeraGrid '06: Advancing Scientific Discovery, Indianapolis, Indiana, June 12-15, 2006

TeraGrid ‘06 was a forum for individuals and institutions who are interested in building and using cyberinfrastructure. NSF (National Science Foundation) Director Dr. Arden Bement was the conference keynote speaker. OCI (Office of Cyberinfrastructure) Director (Designate) Dr. Daniel Atkins, Dr. Kelvin Droegemeier, and Professor Donna Cox, Director of Visualization and Experimental Technologies at NCSA, were invited keynote speakers for the first annual TeraGrid Conference—TeraGrid ‘06, Advancing Scientific Discovery—held in Indianapolis, Indiana, June 12-15. Charlie Catlett, Director of TeraGrid, provided a “State of the TeraGrid Address”.

Computational Methods for Spatially Realistic Microphysiological Simulations, June 6-9, 2006

This workshop covered theory and practice for design and simulation of models focused on diffusion-reaction systems such as neurotransmission and biochemical networks. Newly developed versions of MCell and DReAMM software (www.mcell.psc.edu and www.mcell.cnl.salk.edu) were introduced, highlighting models created from anatomical reconstructions or computer-aided design tools, and new Monte Carlo methods for 3-D simulation of reactions in solution and on biological surfaces.

Nucleic Acid and Protein Sequence Analysis Workshop, April 6-7, 2006

This two-day workshop taught researchers at Tennessee State University the basics of sequence analysis. Workshop participants learned how to use tools for sequence analysis on the supercomputers at Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center (PSC).