HPCwire: NCSA to Host PRAGMA Events

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September 21, 2007

NCSA to Host PRAGMA Events

The National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA) at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) is hosting two PRAGMA events in conjunction -- PRAGMA 13 workshop (Sept. 23-25) and the first PRAGMA Institute (Sept. 26-27). NCSA is a member institution of the Pacific Rim Applications and Grid Middleware Assembly (PRAGMA) and has a robust International Affiliates program with sister institutions in countries that include Australia, Brazil, China, Costa Rica, Cypress, India, Japan, Korea, Singapore, South Africa, Taiwan and the UK. NCSA organizes regular collaborative meetings with its International Affiliates.

The PRAGMA 13 workshop with the theme "PRAGMA Engagements in CyberInfrastructure" is from Sept. 24th-25th, with a welcome reception and dinner on the evening of the 23rd. PRAGMA workshops normally are working group meetings, with demonstrations and discussions of collaborative projects. These are related to both applications and infrastructure development and deployment. There will be 10 demonstrations of collaborative projects during the demo sessions. Poster presentations have been introduced into the agenda for the first time at PRAGMA 13, with 10 posters.

The first PRAGMA Institute called the "Advanced Computing Applications and Technologies Institute" is sponsored by the Institute for Advanced Computing Applications and Technologies (IACAT) at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. This will be the first instantiation of a PRAGMA Institute and involves two days of discussions and tutorials. The applications discussions on day one will be on life sciences and on day two on geosciences. The institute includes in-depth tutorials on PRAGMA community- and member-institutions-developed software and applications technologies.

More than 140 participants have registered for the events. (Registration is now closed.) There will be an almost equal number of participants from abroad and from within the United States.

NCSA Staff and several Illinois faculty will be actively participating in the events. People from abroad include participants and presenters from Australia, China, Columbia, Costa Rica, India, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Singapore, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam.

Chancellor Richard Herman from UIUC will provide the welcome address on Sept. 24. Professor Thom Dunning, NCSA director, will provide the keynote. Dr. Peter Arzberger, UCSD, PRAGMA PI and director will provide updates on PRAGMA. The rest of the day will be filled with demonstrations, working group discussions and poster session.

Professor David Abramson from Monash University in Australia will present an invited talk on applications using Nimrod on the morning of Sept. 25. The attendees will get a tour of the NCSA facilities around mid-day. The rest of the day will be filled with demonstrations, working group discussions, and updates and plans. Provost Linda Katehi will join the attendees during the evening.

The first PRAGMA Institute will commence on the morning of Sept. 26. Vice Chancellor for Research Dr. Chip Zukoski will provide the welcome address. Professor Larry Smarr from Calit2 and Professor Rick Stevens from Argonne will provide keynotes in life sciences. The rest of the day will be spent in tutorial sessions.

On the morning of Sept. 27, Professor Arun Agarwal from the University of Hyderabad in India and Professor Don Wuebbles from UIUC will present keynotes in geosciences. Professor Miron Livny will present an invited talk on Condor. The rest of the day will be spent in tutorial sessions.

Dr. Radha Nandkumar, director of NCSA's ICARE-International and CAmpus RElations, is the general chair for the PRAGMA events. The other chairs and co-chairs include Peter Arzberger, PRAGMA PI and director, UCSD; Thom Dunning, NCSA and IACAT director, UIUC; Fang-Pang Lin, NCHC (Taiwan), PRAGMA 14 chair and PRAGMA 13 co-chair; Danny Powell, NCSA, PRAGMA 13 co-chair; Piyawut Srichaikul, NECTEC (Thailand), PRAGMA 13 co-chair.

Several leaders shared their thoughts on the upcoming events:

From Radha Nandkumar: "Globalization of our scientific and technological endeavors, internationalization of our campuses, development of a culturally competent workforce, etc. are matters of high priority. Events such as the PRAGMA Workshops, and NCSA's International Affiliates Meetings that are held frequently and especially during SCxx that bring people face-to-face under one roof provide unprecedented and unique opportunities for us to be addressing these pro-actively and collaborating with good and smart people from around the world."

From Thom Dunning: "NCSA is pleased to host PRAGMA 13. Cyberinfrastructure must transparently cross borders if it is to advance science and engineering. PRAGMA helps ensure this goal."

From Peter Arzberger: "We are looking forward to the meeting at NCSA to allow more interactions with folks at NCSA and the NCSA International Affiliates. But equally, we are very excited about launching the PRAGMA Institute series. Because of our focus on community, it is essential that we work very hard to broaden and increase participation. The Institute is a new way for the PRAGMA community to have a broader and lasting impact."

From Danny Powell: "Advancing science and technology requires collaborative effort across geographic boundaries. We look forward to engaging with our colleagues from around the world so we can all benefit from one another's intellect, expertise, and experience."

More information and details are available at http://www.ncsa.uiuc.edu/Conferences/PRAGMA13.

About NCSA

The National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA), established in January 1986, is a national center anchored at the University of Illinois and is one of the five original centers in the National Science Foundation's Supercomputer Centers Program. Since then, NCSA has contributed significantly to the birth and growth of the worldwide cyberinfrastructure for science and engineering, operating some of the world's most powerful supercomputers and developing the software infrastructure needed to efficiently use these systems (for example, NCSA Telnet and, in 1993, NCSA Mosaic, the first readily available graphical Web browser). Today the center is recognized as an international leader in deploying robust high-performance computing resources and in working with research communities to develop new computing and software technologies. NCSA is at the heart of the University's Institute for Advanced Computing Applications and Technologies. The National Science Foundation, the state of Illinois, the University of Illinois, industrial partners, and other federal agencies support NCSA. See http://www.ncsa.uiuc.edu/.

About PRAGMA

The Pacific Rim Application and Grid Middleware Assembly (PRAGMA) was formed in 2002 to establish sustained collaborations and advance the use of grid technologies in applications among a community of investigators working with leading institutions around the Pacific Rim. PRAGMA is a conduit of idea, technology, and people among its 30 institutional members from 10 countries. PRAGMA is also a framework for collaborative research and education. In PRAGMA, applications are the key, integrating focus that bring together the necessary infrastructure and middleware to advance the application's goals. Working groups focus the activities. The PRAGMA workshops, held twice a year and hosted by member institutions, bring together the PRAGMA community to enable members and participants to share work-in-progress, provide status updates on collaborative projects, exchange ideas, provide opportunities for planning new activities, and engage new members and participants. See http://www.pragma-grid.net/. Because of its focus on building collaborations, PRAGMA is launching its first PRAGMA Institute following PRAGMA 13, to engage more active members in using grid technologies.

About IACAT

IACAT is the Institute for Advanced Computing Applications and Technologies at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC). The IACAT combines faculty-initiated research in academic units with the advanced technology capabilities at the NCSA. The mission of IACAT is to combine basic and applied research at UIUC with advanced technology development and deployment in NCSA to create, develop and deploy innovative computing applications; create, develop and deploy innovative computing technologies; and educate a new generation of students in advanced computing applications and technologies. Details are at http://www.iacat.uiuc.edu/.

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Source: National Center for Supercomputing Applications

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