Author: Terrance Figy

All students, faculty and staff are invited to participate in the Computing and Data Support Survey. Your feedback is essential in identifying current needs and guiding the development of advanced computing and data resources at Wichita State. You can take a few minutes to complete the survey — your feedback will directly influence course offerings, resource planning and grant‑support capabilities.

Survey highlights: 

• Your role and experience with advanced computing
• Courses you’ve taken or taught using these resources
• Suggestions for new course offerings
• Gaps in computing/data support that have impacted your research or grants
• Resource and expertise needs for future success

Are you looking for computing and data resources to support your research or coursework? Join a town hall from 1 to 2:30 p.m. Thursday, April 10 in 203 Rhatigan Student Center, Lancelot Room where you’ll be introduced computing and data support services that are available locally, regionally and nationally — many of which are free to WSU students, faculty and staff.

These computing and data support services can enable data analysis, simulations, open-source software development and machine learning applications. Updates will also be shared on current initiatives at WSU such as the acquisition of a MATLAB campus-wide license — and participants are invited to provide their input to help shape local computing and data resources together.

Who should attend?

Students, faculty and staff interested in utilizing and shaping our computing and data resources at WSU.

What you’ll learn:

• Who to contact for computing and data support at WSU.
• Overview of local computing and data resources.
• How to access regional computing and data resources at Kansas State University and Oklahoma State University.
• Introduction to national computing and data resources, including Advanced Cyberinfrastructure Coordination Ecosystem (ACCESS), the Open Science Grid (OSG), National Research Platform (NRP), and National Artificial Intelligence Research Resource (NIARR)
• Discussion: Update on Campus Cyberinfrastructure Master Plan (Feedback is welcome!).

Don’t miss this opportunity to learn, collaborate and help shape the future of computing and data services at WSU.

For more details, contact Terrance Figy, associate professor and director of HPC, at terrance.figy@wichita.edu or Ryan Doll, assistant educator and Data Center director, at ryan.doll@wichita.edu.

Special thanks to the NSF for its support via the CC*Planning Grant, Award #2346097.

Wichita State students and faculty have access to a wide range of computational resources, locally and through regional and national partnerships. Make the most of these powerful tools to boost your research and projects at no cost.

Local resources

• BeoShock – Wichita State: The BeoShock High-Performance Computing (HPC) cluster at WSU provides computational resources to students and faculty, as well as KBOR constituents outside of WSU. To request an HPC account, visit the HPC user access request page. For further information, visit the HPC website or contact the HPC director at WSU, Dr. Terrance Figy, at terrance.figy@wichita.edu.
• Ryan Doll and Terrance Figy via Award Abstract #2346097, “CC* Planning: Establishing a Sustainable Framework for High-Performance Computing Growth at Wichita State University,” are formulating plans for the next generation of advanced computing resources. If you would like to be involved or have opinions, contact either Terrance Figy (terrance.figy@wichita.edu) or Ryan Doll (ryan.doll@wichita.edu).

Regional resources

• Pete – Oklahoma State University: The Pete Supercomputer at Oklahoma State University offers advanced computational resources and data storage, accessible to students and faculty at WSU to support diverse research initiatives.
• New Computing Resource Coming Soon!
  This is an outcome of a collaborative effort among Wichita State University, Oklahoma State University and six other institutions in the OAK region, resulting in the MRI award for the “Acquisition of a High-Performance Computational System for OAK Region to Enable Computing and Data-Driven Discovery.”
• BeoCat – Kansas State University: Beocat, a high-performance computing cluster at Kansas State University operated by the Institute for Computational Research, offers free access to any educational researcher in Kansas and their collaborators.

National resources

• Open Science Grid: The Open Science Grid facilitates high-throughput computing, enabling the parallel execution of numerous tasks or simulations that demand substantial computational resources over extended periods.
• ACCESS: ACCESS (Advanced Cyberinfrastructure Coordination Ecosystem: Services & Support) supports computational- and data-intensive research with resources like HPC clusters, virtualization clusters and massive storage clusters. For account creation and resource information, contact Campus Champion Dr. Terrance Figy at terrance.figy@wichita.edu.
• NRP: The National Research Platform (NRP) is a heterogeneous, nationally distributed, open system that includes different types of processors: standard CPUs, GPUs optimized for different precision levels and FPGAs. It has two types of setups at three locations: one for high-performance tasks and two optimized for specific types of GPUs. This setup supports various tasks like data science, simulations and machine learning or AI. It also allows easy data access through a large, connected network that shares content across the country.

Students are invited to participate in a special MATLAB training session, starting at 10 a.m. Thursday, Oct. 17 in 301 RSC, Gridley Room. The training offers an excellent opportunity to enhance your skills in MATLAB and Simulink, with a focus on practical applications and teaching tools.

Schedule:

• Session one: Introduction to MATLAB – Low Code Data Analysis – 10-11 a.m.
• Session two: Modeling and Simulation of Dynamical Systems with Simulink and Simscape – 11 a.m.-noon

For more information, contact Terrance Figy at terrance.figy@wichita.edu or Ryan Doll at ryan.doll@wichita.edu. 

Faculty and staff are invited to participate in a special MATLAB training session, starting at 10 a.m. Thursday, Oct. 17 in 301 RSC, Gridley Room. The training offers an excellent opportunity to enhance your skills in MATLAB and Simulink, with a focus on practical applications and teaching tools.

Schedule:

• Session one: Introduction to MATLAB – Low Code Data Analysis – 10-11 a.m.
• Session two: Modeling and Simulation of Dynamical Systems with Simulink and Simscape – 11 a.m.-noon
• Session three: Teaching with MATLAB and Simulink in the Modern Classroom (educators only) – noon-1 p.m.

Session one and two are open to students, researchers and professionals looking to sharpen their MATLAB and Simulink skills. Session three is exclusively for educators and TA’s seeking to integrate modern tools into their teaching methodologies.

For more information, contact Terrance Figy at terrance.figy@wichita.edu or Ryan Doll at ryan.doll@wichita.edu.

Join an update meeting on campus computing. Let your voice be heard and help shape the future of our campus computing resources from 2 to 3 p.m. Friday, Sept. 20 in the Ablah Library Digital Scholars Commons.

The meeting agenda:

• Campus Cyberinfrastructure Plan update
• Academic Computing and Data Capabilities Survey 2024
• Update on BeoShock HPC: New hardware and software resources
• Question and answer session

For questions or additional information, contact: Terrance Figy, director of HPC and associate professor of physics, at terrance.figy@wichita.edu.

Wichita State University is developing a Campus Cyberinfrastructure Master Plan to enhance computing, data, and software resources critical to supporting research and education. This initiative aims to interconnect campus research labs, create a shared research storage system and establish a regional computing system. The plan will address the growing computational, data and software needs of the university, while promoting interdisciplinary collaborations and supporting innovative research. As part of this effort, we are conducting a survey to better understand the current and future computing, data, and software needs of faculty, researchers, and students across diverse departments. The feedback collected will help shape strategic decisions to ensure that WSU’s infrastructure is flexible, scalable, and sustainable. Your input is crucial for tailoring resources to meet the university’s evolving demands and for fostering a collaborative research environment.

Please complete this survey by Sept. 25.

This survey is supported by NSF Award 2346097.

Wichita State students and faculty have access to a wide range of computational resources, locally and through regional and national partnerships. Make the most of these powerful tools to boost your research and projects at no cost.

Local resources:

• BeoShock – Wichita State: The BeoShock High-Performance Computing (HPC) cluster at WSU provides computational resources to students and faculty, as well as KBOR constituents outside of WSU. To request an HPC account, visit the HPC user access request page. For further information, visit the HPC website or contact the HPC director at WSU, Dr. Terrance Figy, at terrance.figy@wichita.edu.
  

  If you are new to HPC, the best resource to start with is BeoShock HPC system. Once you educate yourself about HPC and your computing needs grow, you are welcome to explore the following large-scale computing clusters.

• Ryan Doll and Terrance Figy via Award Abstract # 2346097, “CC* Planning: Establishing a Sustainable Framework for High-Performance Computing Growth at Wichita State University,” are formulating plans for the next generation of advanced computing resources. If you would like to be involved or have opinions, contact either Terrance Figy (terrance.figy@wichita.edu) or Ryan Doll (ryan.doll@wichita.edu).

Regional resources:

• Pete – Oklahoma State University: The Pete Supercomputer at Oklahoma State University offers advanced computational resources and data storage, accessible to students and faculty at WSU to support diverse research initiatives.
• New computing resource coming soon
  This is an outcome of a collaborative effort among Wichita State University, Oklahoma State University and six other institutions in the OAK region, resulting in the MRI award for the “Acquisition of a High-Performance Computational System for OAK Region to Enable Computing and Data-Driven Discovery.”
• BeoCat – Kansas State University: Beocat, a high-performance computing cluster at Kansas State University operated by the Institute for Computational Research, offers free access to any educational researcher in Kansas and their collaborators.

National resources:

• Open Science Grid: The Open Science Grid facilitates high-throughput computing, enabling the parallel execution of numerous tasks or simulations that demand substantial computational resources over extended periods.
• ACCESS: ACCESS (Advanced Cyberinfrastructure Coordination Ecosystem: Services & Support) supports computational- and data-intensive research with resources like HPC clusters, virtualization clusters and massive storage clusters. For account creation and resource information, contact Campus Champion Dr. Terrance Figy at terrance.figy@wichita.edu.
• NRP: The National Research Platform (NRP) is a heterogeneous, nationally distributed, open system that includes different types of processors: standard CPUs, GPUs optimized for different precision levels and FPGAs. It has two types of setups at three locations: one for high-performance tasks and two optimized for specific types of GPUs. This setup supports various tasks like data science, simulations and machine learning or AI. It also allows easy data access through a large, connected network that shares content across the country.
  

   

  
  

The Wichita State University community is invited to attend the third OAK Supercomputing Conference from May 22-23.

On-site registration is available on the third floor of the Rhatigan Student Center, but please note that some sessions have limited capacity.

The Wichita State University community is invited to attend the fourth HPC Security Workshop at Wichita State University from May 20 through May 21.

On-site registration is available, but please note that some sessions have limited capacity. Registration is on the third floor of the Rhatigan Student Center.