Category: Research Computing

Supporting Women in High Performance Computing and AI

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To celebrate and promote women’s participation in high performance computing and artificial intelligence, UF Information Technology is hosting a Women in HPC & AI panel discussion and luncheon event on Thursday, December 1, from 12:00 to 1:30 p.m. This in-person panel will be held in the UF Informatics Institute (CSE Room E252) and is free, but pre-registration is required. Lunch is included with your registration. The panelists are:

• Dr. Bonnie Dorr, Professor, Department of Computer & Information Science Engineering
• Dr. Mei He, Assistant Professor, Department of Pharmaceutics
• Dr. Heidi Boisvert, Assistant Professor, School of Theatre+Dance
• Dr. Sarah Moeller, Assistant Professor, Department of Linguistics

Space for the event is limited. Women in High Performance Computing (WHPC) is an international organization working to build a diverse and inclusive workforce by promoting the role of women in computing. UF’s Women in HPC & AI is the local chapter of WHPC. Its aim is to offer mentoring opportunities and resources for female students, faculty, and staff while building a strong cross-disciplinary professional network across UF. Anyone with questions is welcome to email Applications Specialist and AI Support Team Lead Ying Zhang.

Expanding External Usage of HiPerGator

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Federated identity access allows only authorized users secure access to multiple services and domains via a single set of verified credentials. To support federated access to HiPerGator, on Monday, Sept. 19, 2022, the following websites will be updated to use the InCommon Discovery Service:

• jupyterhub.rc.ufl.edu and jhub.rc.ufl.edu
• support.rc.ufl.edu
• galaxy.rc.ufl.edu
• ondemand.rc.ufl.edu and ood.rc.ufl.edu

InCommon is an integrated service enabling single sign-on, access to cloud and local services, and global collaboration. UF faculty with collaborators at other InCommon federated institutions will benefit by not having to arrange GatorLink IDs for them. State university system and SEC institution faculty will also benefit, because they will now be able to use their institutional account credentials; a boon for those institutions’ instructors teaching large classes using HiPerGator AI.

Users will be directed to the InCommon Federation Discovery website after the update is complete. Be sure the ‘Remember selection for this web browser session’ checkbox is selected to skip this step in the future on the same computer. Then, select ‘University of Florida’ from the dropdown. After selecting University of Florida, users will be directed to the GatorLink login page (https://login.ufl.edu/).

UFIT wants all HiPerGator ecosystem users to be aware of this impending change. Anyone with questions about these InCommon federated access additions may contact Training and Biocomputing Specialist Dr. Matt Gitzendanner.

Fall 2022 HiPerGator Training

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Registration for the fall 2022 Research Computing training schedule is now open. The training sessions will be held on Thursdays from 10:40 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. And for the first time, this semester UFIT is offering both in-person registration and Zoom attendance options for each training.

The in-person location is the
UF Informatics Institute Seminar Room. All sessions are open to faculty, lab staff, and undergraduate and graduate students. Please register by 9:00 a.m. on the day of the training to ensure you receive the Zoom link. Sessions will be recorded and posted on Research Computing’s pre-recorded training page. To learn more about any of the training options and to register, visit https://rc.ufl.edu/calendar/.

Sep. 08: 10:40 a.m.-12:00 p.m. │ Intro to Research Computing and HiPerGator
Sep. 22: 10:40 a.m.-12:00 p.m. │ Intro to the Linux Command Line
Sep. 29: 10:40 a.m.-12:00 p.m. │ HiPerGator SLURM Submission Scripts
Oct. 06: 10:40 a.m.-12:00 p.m. │ HiPerGator SLURM Scripts for MPI Jobs
Oct. 20: 10:40 a.m.-12:00 p.m. │ Running Graphical Applications on HiPerGator
Nov. 03: 10:40 a.m.-12:00 p.m. │ Jupyter Notebook and Managing Conda Environments
Nov. 10: 10:40 a.m.-12:00 p.m. │ Git and github.com

Fall 2022 HiPerGator Symposium

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The fifth annual Fall HiPerGator Symposium will take place from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. on Tuesday, November 1. The symposium will be held virtually via Zoom and consist of three parts: a keynote presentation, 10-minute ‘lightning’ talks, and poster sessions. Dr. Bala Balachandar, Newton C. Ebaugh Distinguished Professor in the Department of Mechanical and Aeronautical Engineering, will deliver the keynote presentation. The full Symposium agenda is available online.

The symposium is open to everyone in the UF community and to research faculty in the state university system and Southeastern Conference member institutions. Register to attend here.

All postdocs, undergraduates, and graduate students can submit to present a lightning talk or a poster. The fall symposium focuses on high-performance and high-throughput computing, leveraging HiPerGator 3.0 and its storage systems. While AI applications may be considered, the spring symposium focuses specifically on AI. Visit the event registration page to submit a proposal for a lightning talk or a poster. → Applications to be a presenter must be received by October 14.

Anyone with questions about the Fall HiPerGator Symposium may contact UFIT Applications Specialist Ying Zhang.

Medical Imaging for AI Research Inquiries

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UFIT is hosting two MONAI-focused tutorials in July. Both tutorials will be held via Zoom:

Tutorial Name: MONAI Core
Date: Tuesday, July 12, 12:00–1:00 p.m.
Registration Link
Description: MONAI Core is a PyTorch based and GPU-accelerated deep learning framework, specifically designed for medical imaging. This tutorial will cover:
• Why MONAI Core: the unique and impactful features of MONAI Core
• MONAI Core on HiPerGator: end-to-end demo on HiPerGator

Tutorial Name: MONAI Label for Medical Imaging with NVIDIA
Date: Tuesday, July 26, 12:00–1:00 p.m.
Registration Link
Description: MONAI Label is an open-source medical-imaging-specific tool for both AI-assisted annotation and building your own AI annotation models. This tutorial has two parts:
• An in-depth MONAI Label introduction
• A step-by-step demo on HiPerGator

MONAI is a freely available, community-supported, PyTorch-based framework for deep learning in healthcare imaging. MONAI provides domain-optimized foundational capabilities for developing healthcare imaging training workflows in a native PyTorch paradigm. Anyone with questions about the MONAI tutorials or other training opportunities offered by UFIT Research Computing may contact Dr. Matt Gitzendanner.

Full-Day NVIDIA Workshops–Summer 2022

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UFIT is offering two, full-day NVIDIA workshops this summer.  Registration for the Deep Learning Institute (DLI) offerings is open to faculty and to staff who support research computing applications. Anyone with questions prior to registering may contact AI Support Team Lead Ying Zhang, yingz@ufl.edu.

NVIDIA DLI: Building Transformer-Based Natural Language Processing Applications
This is an online workshop, held via Zoom.
DATE: June 21, 2022
TIME: 9:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.
INFORMATION: https://rc.ufl.edu/calendar/#!view/event/date/20220621/event_id/24401

NVIDIA DLI: Fundamentals of Deep Learning
This is an in-person workshop, held at the UF Informatics Institute (432 Newell Drive).
DATE: July 28, 2022
TIME: 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
INFORMATION: https://www.rc.ufl.edu/calendar/#!view/event/date/20220728/event_id/24328

Participants receive an NVIDIA DLI certificate to recognize their subject matter competency after the successful completion of the post-workshop assessment. UFIT offers year-round training opportunities to support research inquiry. Visit the calendar of training and events for other learning opportunities.

Remote Computing Assistance Available

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You don’t need to be on campus to receive research computing assistance. Remote support and virtual walk-in hours are available on your terms with UFIT Research Computing.

Using Zoom and Slack, researchers can get the consultation they need, when they need it. UFIT staff have years of experience with the university’s computing resources and are ready to support you and your project. Visit the Remote Support webpage to schedule an appointment.

UFIT’s proposal support service can help you stretch your research budget and save you time. Staff can provide personalized commitment letters and help write data management plans. UFIT also regularly offer virtual NVIDIA workshops and computing trainings to maximize your workflows within UF’s HiPerGator AI supercomputing environment. The
RC Training webpage lists upcoming events.

UFIT is committed to supporting the university’s researchers where they are, in Gainesville or around the globe. Please contact the Research Computing staff for assistance with our research computing portfolio of services.

Optimizing Performance on the NVIDIA Platform

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UFIT is offering a 90-minute tutorial, “Performance Analysis and Optimization on the NVIDIA Platform,” on April 14. The tutorial is free and open to faculty, students, and staff.

Tutorial: Performance Analysis and Optimization on the NVIDIA Platform
Date: Thursday, April 14, 2022
Time: 12:00 PM – 1:30 PM
Pre-registration is required

The tutorial will be lead by an NVIDIA scientist who will present an introduction to performance analysis on accelerated CPU-GPU servers. Attendees will learn how to use NVIDIA Nsight Visual Studio profiling tools to understand the behavior of AI and high-performance applications to determine what optimization steps are appropriate for improving the overall time-to-solution.

Registrants will be sent the secure Zoom link the day before the tutorial. Anyone with questions about this event may contact UFIT’s AI Team Lead and Senior Application Developer Ying Zhang.

Start Your AI Journey with the GAITOR Club

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As UF’s first AI-focused student organization, the GAITOR Club integrates learning and engineering to help students understand artificial intelligence (AI). The goal of the organization is for members to engineer real-world business and marketing solutions using AI applications.

“There is a starting place for everyone in AI,” said Cole Johnson, president of the GAITOR Club. “AI is often associated with being complicated, but the GAITOR Club wants to simplify that gap with practical applications of AI.”

To help students learn AI concepts, the GAITOR Club hosts Machine Learning Mondays and AI days, open to students across UF. The organization also offers AI training courses. On the engineering side, students can dive into AI concepts each semester in four collaborative teams: art, natural language processing, hardware, and thought-model analysis. Using HiPerGator AI, each team creates products to analyze data and influence business decisions. Patrick Lehman, head of the natural language processing team, focuses on providing valuable applications for a range of clients:

“I recognize the privilege in being able to produce AI-oriented projects with motivated people. Being a member of the GAITOR Club allows me to produce applications to value.”

Students regardless of year or major can begin their AI journey with the GAITOR Club. Follow the GAITOR Club on Instagram for information on their networking events and outreach activities.

State Faculty Presenting at Spring HiPerGator Symposium

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Registration is now open for the Spring 2022 HiPerGator Symposium. The symposium will be held virtually (hosted on Zoom) and showcase the research in artificial intelligence being conducted by faculty and students from the University of Florida and researchers utilizing HiPerGator from institutions in the Sunshine State Education & Research Computing Alliance (SSERCA).

The date and time for the symposium is Thursday, Mar. 24, from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. There will be more than a dozen presenters, including:

Jayantha Obeysekera, Florida International University [“Understanding, Prediction, and Modeling of Flooding due to Sea Level Variability in Coastal Regions Using Data Mining and AI Methods”]
Sudeep Sarkar, University of South Florida [“Scaling Up Computer Vision Algorithms for Image and Event Recognition”]

The full list of presenters will be available on the spring symposium webpage. Students, faculty, and staff of Florida institutions, as well as Southeastern Conference universities and national constituents, may register to attend. Registrants will receive the Zoom link and sign-in information prior to the symposium. Questions about the Spring 2022 HiPerGator Symposium may be emailed to Dr. Erik Deumens, director, UFIT Research Computing.