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Weekly News FlashesMonday Morning Message, February 1, 2010Project Evaluations Start Next Week, February 11Make sure to check out the Project Evaluations web page and know when and where your team will be making its presentation this month. See: http://www.challenge.nm.org/evaluations. Let Consult know if changes need to be made and check back to see what changes might have been made to the schedule. February is Black History MonthThis article is from AAAS - the American Association for Advancement of Science. It is a worldwide, general science organization. This article is from it journal Science. The story covers includes careers of young scientists who work with lasers and Giant Pandas, and in the fields of cosmology and microbiology to mention a few. Their work will pique the interest of all Challenge team members you think about your career path. Spotlight on african american scientists; Since Benjamin Banneker and George Washington Carver left their marks on American science, African Americans have made great strides as scientists, engineers, mathematicians, and inventors. It's a story of success in the face of great odds in a racist society. However, there's still much room for progress, because even today blacks are sorely underrepresented as science students, teachers, and professionals. Here you can hear the voices of just a few of the black scientists who are living and working in North America today-and helping to pave the way for those who will follow. http://www.scienceupdate.com/spotlights/africanamerican.php Interim ReviewsIt's not too late for an Interim Review. Remember to write to Consult if you are still waiting. Google announces Google Anita Borg Scholarship for First YearsGoogle is very excited to announce the Google Anita Borg Scholarship for First Years, a scholarship opportunity for female high school seniors looking to study computer science at university next year. Details are pasted below and even more detail can be found on the website: www.google.com/anitaborg/first-years/ Google Summer of Code 2010 - Calling Student developers for open source software projects.Google Summer of Code is a
global program that offers student developers stipends to write code for
various open source software projects. We have worked with several open
source, free software, and technology-related groups to identify and fund
several projects over a three month period. Since its inception in 2005,
the program has brought together nearly 2500 successful student
participants and 2500 mentors from 98 countries worldwide, all for the
love of code. Through Google Summer of Code, accepted student
applicants are paired with a mentor or mentors from the participating
projects, thus gaining exposure to real-world software development
scenarios and the opportunity for employment in areas related to their
academic pursuits. In turn, the participating projects are able to more
easily identify and bring in new developers. Best of all, more source
code is created and released for the use and benefit of all. How Crowdsourcing Is Helping in Haiti
18 Jan 09:16: Please can someone find some help for my friend 2 children that are alive under their house at 4813 Ruelle Chretien Lalu et Poupla Haiti. After the earthquake, the text messages came streaming in to 4636. Reports of trapped people, fires, polluted water sources, and requests for food, water and medical supplies. Hundreds of volunteers translated them from Creole and French into English, tagged them with a location and passed them on to aid agencies on the ground. Yet not one of the volunteers was anywhere near Haiti. The 4636 texting service is part of a new generation of web-based efforts to help disaster relief that has emerged from the revolution in texting, social networking and crowdsourcing. Its impact on the ground is tangible. For example, a Haitian clinic texted 4636 that it was running low on fuel for its generator. Within 20 minutes the Red Cross said it would resupply. Groundhog Day is tomorrow. Did you know that groundhogs are the same as woodchucks? Are there woodchucks/groundhogs in New Mexico? Happy February, Monday Morning Message, January 25, 2010Project EvaluationsMake sure to check out the Project Evaluations web page and know when and where your team will be making its presentations next month. See: http://www.challenge.nm.org/evaluations. Let Consult know if changes need to be made and check back to see what changes might have been made to the schedule. Interim ReviewsIf you haven't received a review of your Interim Report, please let us know. Please thank the reviewers for their time and comments. Mini Challenge Results PostedThe answers Mini Challenge problems are: Albuquerque Game Developers Unite For The Global Game JamAlbuquerque will once again serve as a site for the Global Game Jam -- a worldwide video game development challenge where participants must create a game, from concept to playable demo, in 48 hours. The Global Game Jam, founded in 2009, is designed to bring together local game developers of all experience levels to push their skills and collaborate with people in their community. The jam starts with all sites receiving a central theme and development teams, working concurrently around the globe, build game prototypes focusing on the theme. Last year's inaugural Global Game Jam had 1600 participants in over 50 cities worldwide, with 370 experimental game prototypes created and shared worldwide at the event's conclusion. The Rio Grande IGDA, organizers of the Albuquerque site for the Global Game Jam, is hoping all those interested in game development come out to take on the challenge. Last year Albuquerque's 12 participants formed a monolithic team to develop the game "Chroma Geist", which is rated on the Global Game Jam website as one of the top 50 games created. The Global Game Jam inspired the NM Game Jam held last July and the Rio Grande IGDA hopes these two events will help spur growth of the NM game development industry. "Game jams have so far been the best method I've seen in getting people together and continuing to work on game development projects long after the event's end," says Jon Whetzel, one of the chairpersons for the Rio Grande IGDA. "I'd love to see these jams be the catalyst toward creating larger game projects and even more local game development studios." The jam will start Friday, January 29th at 5:00 pm, doors open at 4:00 pm for people to bring equipment and meet. The Albuquerque site for the Global Game Jam is at the UNM ARTS Lab (131 Pine St NE). Game development concludes at 3:00 pm on Sunday, January 31st with teams presenting their creations to the public. For more information on the Global Game Jam, visit their website at http://www.globalgamejam.org . Questions from potential participants about the Albuquerque site may contact Eric Renz-Whitmore (ewhitmore@unm.edu) or Jon Whetzel (jhwhetz@sandia.gov). Are You A FaceBook User?If so, join the NM SUPERCOMPUTING CHALLENGE group and interact with other Challenge FaceBook users. This Is National Nuclear Science WeekDid you know that:
Betsy, Celia and David Tuesday Morning Message, January 19, 2010Happy January, How is that peer/parent/school board initial presentation going? We would like to hear about some successes. Email Interim ReviewsIf your team has not received a review via email by Friday, the 22nd, please write to Consult at challenge . nm . org and let us know. February Evaluation SchedulesPlease continue to check back on this page http://challenge.nm.org/evaluations for scheduling for your face to face evaluation. Initial Gateways from NM CAC (Computing Applications Center) Open January 25thNMCAC is happy to report the first 11 Gateways will have a grand opening. One of the most important goals of the NMCAC is to extend the power of supercomputing to the entire State of New Mexico. Through a total of 44 gateways (remote access points), each strategically placed at every public college campus in the State, the Center will extend Encanto's reach to:
Project GUTS and the Challenge plan to partner with the center for 3D visualization, videoconferencing, etc. perhaps this spring and at the 2010 Summer Teacher Institute and the 2010 Kickoff at New Mexico Tech, October 16-17. Contact Gina Tanner, Gateway Coordinator, < tanner @ newmexicosupercomputer.com>, 505-554-9273, if you would like to attend at any of these sites: NMCAC - Intel, Rio Rancho, UNM, ENMU, NMSU, WNMU, NMT, SJC, Hobbs, NMMI, SFCC Free Student Admission to National Museum of Nuclear Science & History Jan 25-29The Web site is http://www.NuclearScienceWeek.org and features a "celebration guide" that includes free tips and tools such as a proclamation template plus suggestions for activities each day of the week based on different themes. The special focus Monday is on careers and green jobs that are flourishing in these sectors - energy, healthcare and research. Experienced Programming Mini Challenge ResultsHere are the winners for this mini challenge: (Heard the trumpets blasting!) Kathy Lin, Los Alamos High, The First Place Winner, who submitted a correct solution to problem 139, $100 Victor Kuhns, from Cray, will be contacting these students with their awards monetary gift cards and goodies from Cray. The answers to the problems are: Thanks to our volunteer judges, Nick Bennett, Victor Kuhns, Irene Lee, and Josh Thorp for their continued time and support to the Challenge. Thanks to Cray, Inc. for their support. Stay tuned for our next mini challenge. It may be an area you in which you will chose to participate. Second Annual Young Minds Digital TimesT Film CompetitionWe have fantastic prizes for our winners, including two Grand Prize packages to attend the 2011South by Southwest Film Festival in Austin, Texas. Other first place category winners will take home $200 in cold, hard cash. The teacher with the most student film entries, and the school with the most student film entries in Track One: Young Filmmakers Doing Good, will each win $1000! Details are found on the Prizes page. Start talking to your friends now so that their public vote can help you make it to the Grand Prize round! The competition is free to all student filmmakers grades 6-8 and 9-12. Registration is currently open for the 2009-2010 Competition - sign up now! The registration period ends February 19, 2010 and all entries are due by March 19, 2010. Check out the detailed timeline on the About page and on Google Calendar. As always, please contact us with any questions, challenges, successes. We really do enjoy hearing from you! Sincerely yours, Monday Morning Message, January 11, 2010Good Day, Are you enjoying the clear, sunny, crisp air? Peer ReviewWe suggest that you share your project this month. Parents, school boards, other students make good audiences. Every time you present, you are becoming clearer about your project. February EvaluationsHere is the form you will receive completed after your presentation. http://challenge.nm.org/evaluations/judging_form.html Project Evaluations will be held around the state from Friday, February 12, 2010, through Saturday, February 27, 2010. E-mail Consult with any scheduling conflicts. Team members will make an oral presentation of approximately 20 minutes with 10 minutes for questions and answers, not to exceed 30 minutes, to a team of Supercomputing Challenge judges so that the judges can better understand the project, review progress and offer advice and direction on overcoming obstacles or finding additional resources. NOTE: All team members do not have to be present - but it is highly recommended that they be there if not competing elsewhere. Schedule of Presentation Times for all locations -The schedules are subject to change so please check back during the week of your evaluation for last minute changes. Zoom into Engineering at the National Museum of Nuclear Science & Historyhttp://www.nuclearmuseum.org/Enjoy engineering with a day of fun activities designed to help develop strong science process skills, just like engineers do on a daily basis from. Engineers from Sandia National Laboratories and other organizations will lead activities such as making ice cream with liquid nitrogen, building a lighted Space Needle, and mixing potions inspired by Harry Potter. Groups from schools, scouts, or the community are encouraged to make reservations, which can be made by calling 505-245-2137, ext. 103. The event takes place from 10:00 am to 3:00 pm on February 6th and participation is free with admission to the Museum, which is $8 for adults and $7 for children ages 6-17. The Challenge will have a display and if any teams want to come and help at the display, sharing about their projects or their participation in the Supercomputing Challenge, let Consult know. Computing Link - Predicting insurgent attacks with a mathematical modelWhen bombs and bullets left 37 dead during Friday prayers at a mosque in Pakistan, last month, the insurgency was using the element of surprise. Unpredictability is the hallmark of modern insurgent attacks such as this one. However, the likelihood of such events, their timing and strength can now be estimated and managed before occurring, according to a new study by researchers at the University of Miami. The study entitled "Common Ecology Quantifies Human Insurgency" is featured as the cover of the December 17, 2009 issue of the scientific journal Nature. http://www.physorg.com/news180284932.html Computingly yours, Monday Morning Message, January 4, 2010Happy New Year! Hope you are refreshed and ready to go and get to some more milestones for the Challenge! Response to Interim ReportsYour team should be receiving an email review of your interim report from one of our fantastic volunteers. It is polite to thank them for their time and expertise and try to answer their questions. They can become your team's advocate during the next four months. Dates to RememberGet out your calendar, your blackberry or your arm and write down these dates. Any time in January a Recommended January Peer Review F2F Presentation at a college near you Project Evaluation Look at the Project Evaluations rough draft schedule. If you have a particular time or place at which you would like to present, please let us know. Due to the large number of teams in the Albuquerque area, we are considering having Project Evaluations on both the 13th and 20th. Review the Dates Page for the rest of the 2009-2010 Challenge year.Computing LinkFrom our info finder Eleanor Walther, Sandia National Labs Johannes Schneider may not have the coolest invention on Time magazine's best and inventions list, but it sure is practical. The University of Mainz researcher and his team developed an algorithm that broke the record for fitting a given number of different-size discs into the smallest circle. The algorithm improves on its competitors (yes, there are competitors) in that it's better at detecting false starts and backtracking when it hits on an inelegant configuration. Schneider believes that his algorithm could benefit packaging and shipping companies by helping them use their resources more efficiently. 20th Year Mini ChallengeMini Challenge for Experienced Programmers Deadline for this mini challenge is January 8, 2010. We already have three entries! Just send your entries to Consult @ challenge.nm. org This challenge is for experienced programmers. If you and your team mates solve any of these problems below, you will receive a crisp one hundred dollar bill and some other goodies from Cray for your team to share. The problems:
As always, Monday Morning Message, December 14, 2009Good Day, We will take a two week break from our MMM (Monday Morning Messages) during winter break. Happy Holidays to you and yours! Project Interims57 teams have submitted their project interim reports. Consult is proud of you for meeting the Interim Report deadline. Technical writing, learning time management in a project, teaming and problem solving are important 21st century skills. The remaining teams will get a note shortly. In early January, we will be scheduling the February Project Evaluations base on Interims that have been submitted so please get those Interims in, if your team is still participating in the Challenge. Mini Challenge for Experienced ProgrammersDeadline for this mini challenge is January 8, 2010. We already have two entries! Just send your entries to Consult @ challenge.nm. org This challenge is for experienced programmers. If you and your team mates solve any of these problems below, you will receive a crisp one hundred dollar bill and some other goodies from Cray for your team to share. The problems:
Supercomputing LinkSeptember 11th, 2009 (PhysOrg.com) -- A new study by a University of Warwick researcher has demonstrated that researchers trying to model a range of processes could use the power and capabilities of a particular XBox chip as a much cheaper alternative to other forms of parallel processing hardware. Learn more. Innovate/Educate GrantGood news! The Challenge has received a grant from NMSTE (New Mexico Society of Technology Educators) and Innovate/Educate to underwrite our online AP Computer Science class, taught by Albert Simon from Alamogordo High. Students from Silver High and CEP1 (Albuquerque) and two teachers are enrolled in the course. Peer ReviewAnita Gerlach, Teacher Sponsor, Santa Fe High, first proposed this event to the Challenge community. Here is how she describes it: I initiated the peer review many years ago. I ask students to bring in scientists, parents, etc and also have the students there. I have a rubric for judging which includes the topic, student knowledge of the topic, student dress, the PowerPoint presentation, etc. The students present their projects just as they would in April, except they are interim, not final. They then are asked questions by the audience. Some parents are very aggressive - so be it. I also ask the audience to give constructive criticism, not destructive. Often a parent agrees to help the students with their presentation. The students receive all the feedback sheets, including one I fill out. I videotape them and let them watch themselves, as well. The presentations usually last about ten minutes with 5-10 minutes for questions. It is quite a "heads up" for them. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! Monday Morning Message, December 7, 2009Happy December! December Deadline for Interim ReportsYour interim report is due on December 10th. That is this week. Guidelines are at http://challenge.nm.org/interims. We hope that each and every team reading this message submits an interim. Six teams have already submitted their reports: Congrats to you!
National Computer Science Education Week, December 7thThe Challenge is joining in with Congress to advance computing's role in preparing skilled workers and creating career opportunities. We think that your projects do just this: teaching you to become a skilled student in the areas of math, science, technology, engineering and computing. Chris Stephenson, executive director of CSTA (launched by ACM in 2005), and a friend of the Challenge, noted the vital role of computing in people's daily lives and the urgency of building a strong computing workforce. "We need to expose K-12 students to computer science concepts to help them gain critical 21st century skills and knowledge, and we're grateful for Congress' recognition of this need as a national priority," she said. Deadline for the Current Mini ChallengeDeadline for this mini challenge is January 8, 2010. We already have two entries! Just send your entries to Consult @ challenge.nm. org This challenge is for experienced programmers. If you and your team mates solve any of these problems below, you will receive a crisp one hundred dollar bill and some other goodies from Cray for your team to share. The problems:
Summer Plans?It is not too early to think about what you might be able to do in the area of computing this summer. We would like to see a Challenge participant participate in the Research Science Institute. Each summer, 80 of the world's most accomplished high school students gather at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for the Research Science Institute (RSI). Invited students enjoy a six-week, cost-free program designed to kick-start their careers of leadership in science, mathematics, engineering, and technology. Learn more at: http://www.cee.org/programs/rsi Sandia Role in Asteroid Impact InvestigationLast year, for the first time in the history of space exploration,
scientists spotted and tracked an asteroid on a collision course with Earth.
About the size of a truck, the asteroid disintegrated in an airburst and pieces
slammed into the Nubian Desert in Sudan, in nearly the exact spot and only a
few seconds from the time scientists had predicted. In its "Naked Science"
series, the National Geographic channel will air a documentary about the 2008
TC3 asteroid - and Sandia's role in modeling the airburst, featuring Mark
Boslough (1433) - on the following dates and times (MST): Mark joins NASA scientists and others in examining the remnants of the asteroid to unlock the clues to help prevent - or simply survive - future incidents. Sincerely yours, Monday Morning Message, November 30, 2009Hope your turkey was moist or your tofurkey was grand! December Deadline for InterimsYour interim report is due on December 10th. That is ten days away. Guidelines are at http://challenge.nm.org/interims. We hope that each and every team reading this message submits an interim. National Computer Science WeekACM, the Association for Computing Machinery, the world's largest educational and scientific computing society has joined with several partners from the computing community to commend the U.S. House of Representatives' passage of a resolution to raise the profile of computer science as a transforming industry that drives technology innovation and bolsters economic productivity. The resolution, H. RES. 558, designates the week of December 7 as "National Computer Science Education Week" in honor of Grace Murray Hopper, one of the outstanding pioneers in the field of computer science, who was born on December 9, 1906. ACM is partnering with Microsoft, Google, Inc., and Intel as well as the Computer Science Teachers Association (CSTA), the National Center for Women & Information Technology (NCWIT), and the Computing Research Association (CRA) to build awareness of computer science education as a national priority. Citing the influence of computing technology as a significant contributor to U.S. economic output, the House resolution calls on educators and policy makers to improve computer science learning at all educational levels, and to motivate increased participation in computer science. Mini ChallengeSo to celebrate the Challenge's 20th birthday and Computer Science Education Week, the Challenge in conjunction with Cray, Inc. is offering a mini challenge. We will offer different mini challenges throughout the year and there will be different audiences for each. This challenge is for experienced programmers. If you and your team mates solve any of these problems below, you will receive a crisp one hundred dollar bill and some other goodies from Cray for your team to share. The problems:
Your work will be judged by our fantastic volunteer judges, Nick Bennett, Victor Kuhns, Irene Lee and Josh Thorp. You will also be highlighted in a press release about the Challenge's birthday and your success. Deadline for this mini challenge is January 8, 2010. Supercomputing StoryShared Supercomputing and Everyday Research Sincerely yours, Monday Morning Message, November 23, 2009A Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours! Kickoff FeedbackWe would like to thank the multiple people from CETi1. Desert, Deming, Espanola Valley High, Freedom, Hope, Jackson Mid and Quemado who responded to our survey. Please spend five minutes filling it out at http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=NP83jrI0Rsf0fYkLu_2f8iMg_3d_3d Consult needs to decide in December whether or not to return to Sacramento next year for the kickoff and your feedback is valued. Project ReviewPlease let us know if you have not received a review of your proposal. Our volunteers are busy people and their review may have slipped their minds An Important AnnouncementAll of us at the Supercomputing Challenge were saddened to hear of a severe accident affecting one of our alumni, Lindy Jacobs of Los Alamos. She was a participant the past two years in the Challenge. Lindy is recovering in a Portland, Oregon hospital. We would like to offer our thoughts and prayers in support of Lindy's recovery, and to encourage her and her family during this difficult time. Offers of assistance and supportive emails can be sent to Mom at perkijacobs@gmail.com Bob and Peggy Robey, Los Alamos December Interim Report and ResearchOnly 17 more days until your Interim Report is due. Project Refinement and Interim Reports December 10, 2009 Interim Report is due MentorsNeed mentors? Contact Consult. Talk about your mentor in your interim report. EpidemiologyThe governmental agency where Robin Bush works is MIDAS - Models of Infectious Disease Agent Study. Check out their models at You can use a model or code in your project as long as you cite your sources. SC09David Kratzer was able to attend the Education Program of the Supercomputing 09 Conference held in Portland, Oregon last week. There were several sessions related to use of parallel programming techniques. With all new computers begin manufactured today, there are multiple cores (central processing units) in each one and we need to be able to create programs that will take advantage of the used in 1990 was about the same speed as your laptop is today. It had 8 processors and many desktop systems now are available with 8 processors and 32 and 64 are just around the corner.
Warmly, Monday Morning Message, November 16, 2009What is the wind chill factor at your house? Pretty cold Sunday in Tijeras! Kickoff Feedback41 people have filled out our one page survey. Please spend five minutes filling it out at http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=NP83jrI0Rsf0fYkLu_2f8iMg_3d_3d Project ReviewOur scientists and alums are emailing you with your second review of your project. Please write back to them, thank them for their time (they are volunteers) and cc consult @ challenge.nm.org. If you do not hear from someone within one week, please let us know. December Interim ReportYour team needs to submit your Interim Report before you leave school for winter break. Guidelines can be found at http://challenge.nm.org/interims Then one of our volunteers will review your report in Jan. You need to have five sources and only three of them from the Internet and you need to cite them. There on online tools that can help you with that: Zotero, Citation Machine, Bibme This bibliography will then be ready to paste into your final report. We are going to create a wiki with research tips. MentorsIt would be prudent for you to find a mentor this month so that you can report your progress in the December Interim. Please let Consult know if you need some assistance. You can get an online expert, a parent, a community member, an university professor or graduate student, a Challenge alum or a business person to help you with your project in many different areas. Aspen Visit to the Santa Fe ComplexAspen Elementary students from Los Alamos participated in a supercomputing field trip to the Santa Fe Complex. Many of the students enjoyed the hands-on training and learning to write programs in Star Logo TNG and Net Logo. One thing that all students found fun to work with was the sand table as it helped them to see elevations and how the different terrains could affect an experiment. The computer program developed for the simulation of fire propagation and other natural events were very interesting. The students learned that the fire propagates upward because of the hot air moves upwards. They could see this on the sand terrain that the simulation results were projected. They change the terrain properties to prevent the fire etc. This field trip showed the students that computers can do so many more things than they ever imagined. The students want to thank all who helped them at the Santa Fe Complex. They highly recommend it for future supercomputing students and suggest the class be taught all day. By having an all day session, the students would gain additional guidance in the programming of their Supercomputing Challenge projects. Thanks so much for allowing us to come to the Santa Fe Complex and all of the hands-on training they received. Aspen Elementary School NovemberAny team needing a school visit? Please let Consult know. EpidemiologyRobin, our keynote, continues with these goals for epidemiologists:
Perhaps, if your project is about epidemiology, your team might want to focus on one of these goals. Project ProposalsWe currently have 86 proposals on the web. We will be nagging the others registered to submit their proposals to https://mode.lanl.k12.nm.us/proposal_login.php. We really want each team who registered in September to finish in April. TeamingWe are also creating a teaming wiki http://mode.lanl.k12.nm.us/wiki/index.php/Teaming where you can get ideas to keep your team moving forward. You can create an account and add some ideas to our wiki. Deb Loftin currently from Cleveland High School in Rio Rancho, shares that food really helps teams focus. Get a schedule made out for whom brings snacks to what meetings. Warmly, Monday Morning Message, November 9, 2009Good Day, Lovely weather we are enjoying, crisp night and mornings and pleasant days. Kickoff FeedbackOnly 21 people have filled out our one page survey and most of them
are staff. Please give us your feedback. Research PhaseNow is the time for you to be finding at least five sources that pertain to your project. Interviews, surveys, previously written code, and even past Challenge projects. You can use our search process which is found on the upper left hand side of our home page. Type in a word like "epidemiology" or "ecology" or whatever it is you are interested in researching for your project. That will take you to a list of past Challenge investigations. Teams would be honored to be cited as a resource.) Utilize the advanced search mode from Google
http://www.google.com.au/advanced_search. Project ReviewOur scientists and alums are emailing you with your second review of your project. Please write back to them, thank them for their time (they are volunteers) and cc consult @ challenge.nm.org. If you do not hear from someone within one week, please let us know. NovemberIn the Challenge milestones, November is the time to let Consult know that your team wants someone to come visit and help them focus on their project. Please write to consult and let us know. We have visits to Bloomfield High, Navajo Prep and Tibbetts Mid in the Four Corners, Northern NM College in Espanola, and Edgewood Elementary, as well as Sandia Prep and Albuquerque Academy in Albuquerque planned so far. Please let us know if your team would like a visit this month. EpidemiologyWe failed to share the site of Robin's keynote with you last week. It is http://rmbush.bio.uci.edu/Robin.Sacramento.pdf Questions she raises about modeling epidemiology:
Project ProposalsWe currently have 78 proposals on the web. We will be nagging the others registered to submit their proposals to https://mode.lanl.k12.nm.us/proposal_login.php. We really want each team who registered in September to finish in April. Challenge as a MarathonWe like to look at the Challenge year as an academic marathon. Each and every one of you can finish your project! Please read about our marathon at http://www.challenge.nm.org/archive/07-08/marathon.shtml So, just as the completion rate in a modern marathon is over 90%, participants in this year's New Mexico Supercomputing Challenge are likely to enjoy the rewards and satisfaction of the presenting their final projects in the spring. MentorsSuccessful teams credit their success to having the correct mentors. You can have several mentors. Get someone to help you with your research, someone to help you with your science, someone to help you with your agent based or mathematical modeling. We have a database for you to utilize at http://www.challenge.nm.org/resources/mentors.shtml. Write a polite and articulate note to one of these volunteers and let us know of your success. Contact Consult if you are having difficulty obtaining a mentor. We suggest that by the end of November that you have some mentors in place. Mini ChallengeSanta Fe Complex is hosting an "Art of Systems Biology" Show in the Spring 2009 with Los Alamos National Lab. They're recruiting students and mentors to learn about Systems Biology and develop models and visualizations for the show and for projects in Supercomputing Challenge. Please contact Stephen Guerin for more info. Aspen Elementary Challenge Students visited the Complex last week and worked with Project GUTS. We will ask them to send us a review. Consider taking a field trip to the Complex for a marvelous view of art, science and technology. TeamingThere is some old research that talks to teams' progression: forming, storming, norming and performing. We assume that you are currently in the second stage of storming. "Decisions don't come easily within group. Team members vie for position as they attempt to establish themselves in relation to other team members and the leader, who might receive challenges from team members. Clarity of purpose increases but plenty of uncertainties persist. Cliques and factions form and there may be power struggles. The team needs to be focused on its goals to avoid becoming distracted by relationships and emotional issues. Compromises may be required to enable progress. Leader coaches." There is also an excellent free test at Don Clark's Big Dog site, to indicate whether your team is forming, storming, norming or performing. The correct way to site this source according to IEEE (The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers ) rules is A. Chapman, "Bruce Tuckman 1965 original 'Forming-storming-norming-performing' concept.". [Online]. Available: http://www.businessballs.com/tuckmanformingstormingnormingperforming.htm [Accessed: Nov. 8, 2009]. We will be talking about citing sources throughout the year. Warmly, Monday Afternoon Message, November 2, 2009Happy November!We loved meeting many of you at our 20th kickoff in the Sacramento Mountains. Please check out the pictures on our home page, http://challenge.nm.org On a more serious note, we are still missing a Dell 3200MP projection system. If you know the whereabouts, please email Consult or call 505-667-2864. There is a reward for the projector's return. KeynoteLook at Robin's presentation (8 megabyte pdf file). Many of our classes will be listed at http://challenge.nm.org/archive/09-10/kickoff/classes. If one you are wanting to review isn't there, please let us know. Survey MonkeyWe want your feedback about the kickoff. Please fill out this short survey created by John Paul Gonzales. http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=NP83jrI0Rsf0fYkLu_2f8iMg_3d_3d Project ProposalsWe currently have 65 proposals on the web. To the other 60 or so teams, please let us know about YOUR project by submitting YOUR proposal too. For details see: http://www.challenge.nm.org/proposals Project ReviewOur scientists and alums are emailing you with your second review of your project. Please write back to them, thank them for their time (they are volunteers) and cc consult @ challenge.nm.org If you do not hear from someone within two weeks, please let us know. ResearchYou need to include five resources for your project in your Interim report, due by Winter Break. Two of your sources need to be non-internet sources. Utilize your librarian and get some extra credit from your English teacher. Here are some research tips: http://challenge.nm.org/archive/04-05/sti/research/index.shtml Also, please check out Zotero It is a powerful, easy-to-use research tool that helps you gather, organize, and analyze sources and then share the results of your research. www.zotero.org EpidemiologyRobin has offered her honorarium to the team(s) who does the best project(s) on our topic of epidemiology. This award will be presented at our Awards Day on April 27, 2010. Important Challenge Dates are available at http://challenge.nm.org/dates.shtml Let's review the SIR model here, to model the progress of an epidemic in a large population. Here is a good link from Duke University: http://www.math.duke.edu/education/ccp/materials/diffcalc/sir/contents.html Can you answer these questions from Duke University?
NovemberIn the Challenge milestones, November is the time to let Consult know that your team wants someone to come visit and help them focus on their project. Please write to consult and let us know. Python ForumThere was talk after the electives on Sunday night to have a Python club. If you are interested in joining an online forum about Python, please write to consult and tell us of your interest. We will then set up an Open Source (free) forum for you to talk with some New Mexican "Pythonistas." Sincerely yours, Thursday Morning Message, October 29, 2009Let's keep the enthusiasm from the Kickoff going! ProposalsSo far 55 teams have submitted their proposals. To the other 70 or so teams, please let us know about YOUR project by submitting a proposal too. For details see: http://www.challenge.nm.org/proposals Missing equipment from the Kickoff ConferenceWhen we finished packing up the equipment around noon on Monday, we realized that we were missing a Dell Latitude C820 laptop computer and a Dell 3200MP projection system. If you know the whereabouts of these items, please email Consult or call 505-667-2864. There is a reward for their return. Santa Fe Complex visitSeveral students from Aspen Elementary school will be visiting the Santa Fe Complex on Tuesday for some instruction in StarLogo TNG and to learn about some of the exciting things that are happening at the Complex. Friday Morning Message, October 23, 2009Students and Teachers,We will be greeting you in about 48 hours to welcome you to the 20th annual Supercomputing Challenge Kickoff! Here are some reminders from Monday's message: PackDon't forget your flashlight for your night classes. And remember your pillow, sleeping bag, towel, tooth brush, etc. It will be in the 30's in the evening and in the 50's during the day, so dress accordingly. ValuablesIf you have a laptop, please bring it with you, but make some plans with
your teacher about where you might be able to lock it up. Perhaps you can
talk to your bus driver and lock the bus. Please leave other valuables at
home. We will have phones available for emergencies. Maps and Directions to SMARoad map http://www.sacramentoassembly.org/docs/Map%20to%20Camp.pdf There will be balloon bouquets at important intersections. Camp map http://www.sacramentoassembly.org/maps.php Print out how to get to the camp and also the layout so that you can find your classes and dorm. Rules of the Groundshttp://www.challenge.nm.org/kickoff/SMA_rulesofthegrounds.pdf while at the Sacramento Methodist Assembly. Individual Scheduleshttp://www.challenge.nm.org/kickoff/session_one.html with drop down menus for math levels 1 - 11. HousingHere is the housing list http://www.challenge.nm.org/kickoff/housing_session1.html ProposalsWe now have 37 proposals online. We will work with all teams on their proposals and help those who don't have one online yet. RegistrationSee you in the small cafe Sunday 12 - 2 to get your schedules, t-shirts, etc. Overview, 2PM in the gymOur Nick Bennett will talk to you about the kickoff, our epidemiology theme, computational science and complex systems. Got questions? consult @ challenge.nm.org Anxiously awaiting your arrival, Monday Morning Message, October 19, 2009Good Day,The majority of us will be together next Monday at the Sacramento Methodist Assembly (SMA) Camp having computational science classes and then taking the bus home. Our team of facilitators have planned seven wonderful classes for you. ProjectsTalk with your team about your school year long project. We already have 17 proposals submitted at http://mode.lanl.k12.nm.us/view_proposals.php One of the main goals of the Kickoff is to help you focus on the problem you want to solve. There will be a session most of you will attend to help you plan your proposal. Attached are some suggested past projects that you could study and improve upon also. PackDon't forget your flashlight for your night classes. And remember your pillow, sleeping bag, towel, tooth brush, etc. It will be in the 30's in the evening and in the 60's during the day, so do bring layers that you can place on and then take off. We will be over 7000 feet elevation. ValuablesIf you have a laptop, please bring it with you, but make some plans with your teacher about where you might be able to lock it up. Perhaps you can talk to your bus driver and lock the bus. Please leave other valuables at home. We will have phones available for emergencies. Phone Numbers for EmergenciesBetsy Frederick 505-220-5050 Maps and Directions to SMARoad map Camp map News from a Cruces friend: Registration at SMA, starting at noonYour teacher will come to the first table in the small cafe and get your name tags. You will pick up a t-shirt at the t-shirt table. You will pick up a schedule for the two days at the schedule table. You will sign up for an elective and you will get your picture taken so you have a picture ID for our end of the year tour at Los Alamos National Labs.(LANL) LunchSome teams will receive a sack lunch from 12 - 1. Teachers, please make sure you have placed your order today. Overview, 2PM in the gymOur Nick Bennett will talk to you about the kickoff, our epidemiology theme, computational science and complex systems. EpidemiologyTalk about a timely topic! If you have a fever, please stay home. We will have a health professional to work with us. We need to use the hand sanitizer in the dining hall before every meal and the bottles in the computer labs. Three Hourly Classes from 2:30 - 5:30 Birthday DinnerIt is our 20th birthday celebration. LANL is sponsoring a special dinner for us all! Keynote, Skipper Hall, GymDr. Robin Bush, Associate Professor, University of California, Irvine, in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, will be our Keynote Speaker. Learn more about her. We will all have a piece of birthday cake afterwards. ElectivesSix of your classes are based on your math level. You may be separated from the rest of your team. After the keynote and cake, you can choose to watch a movie in the gym: How Kevin Bacon Cured Cancer and then do some fun related activities. Or you can choose to go to one of these impressive classes:
Curfew 11 PMYou need to be in your room with lights out. Teachers are working on what the consequences will be if you choose not to follow this rule. Breakfast 7:30 - 8:25Three more classesLunch 11:30 - 12:30Teachers once again please place your orders for either a sack lunch for the bus or a cafeteria lunch if you haven't already. We can't wait to see you next week and learn with you about epidemiology and computational scienceSincerely yours, Monday Morning Message, October 12, 2009Good Day, We are now almost 400 strong. Here are some statistics we have gathered. 79 of you are taking Algebra 2. 143 of you are in the 12th grade. 333 teachers and students are coming to the kickoff. 44% of you are girls. 253 of you are new to the Challenge. 35 of you have been GUTS (Growing Up Thinking Scientifically) participants. 133 of you ordered a medium t-shirt. Checklist Pre-Kickoff
_____ Send in TEAFs and registration fees.
http://www.challenge.nm.org/archive/09-10/teaf.pdf
_____ Form Team. http://www.challenge.nm.org/registration.shtml
_____ Submit Proposal.
http://challenge.nm.org/proposals/ We will help you with a
proposal if you do not have one.
_____ Read Kickoff Ground Rules.
http://www.challenge.nm.org/kickoff/SMA_rulesofthegrounds.pdf
_____ Read Acceptable Use.
http://www.challenge.nm.org/archive/09-10/aup.shtml
_____ Fill out the Pre-Challenge Survey.
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=Tl54WswqoCSvEyEqrpgwpQ_3d_3d
_____ Find a sleeping bag, pillow, toiletries and towel to bring with
you to the kickoff.
Birthday CelebrationsPlease check out the first cake of our 20th birthday celebrations at the Santa Fe Convention Center. That picture is attached to this message. The Challenge was the honored guest of Innovate/Educate and Qwest that night. We are going to have five mini monthly challenges to celebrate our birthday. The first one is for the 87 of you that have been in the Challenge before. We want you to create a short You Tube video that explains the Challenge process. There will be monetary awards from NMTC (New Mexico Technology Council) for all those videos that come in. Create a three minute video of the Challenge process with the important dates highlighted. Use costumes, insert pictures, make a TV show, dance, sing a song, etc. Our experienced teams have much to share with our new teams and this may be fun! We will play the videos and give out the awards at the kickoff. Come on Artesia, Melrose, Bloomfield, Hope, Manzano, Silver, Socorro and others. Help us celebrate! Include that we are 20 years old, a statewide program, 8000 participants, mentors, the Kickoff conference, interim and final reports, face to face evaluation, end of year expo and awards ceremony and scholarships and prizes. We can't wait to see the experienced teams' creativity! Kickoff http://challenge.nm.org/kickoffThe Kickoff Conference at the Sacramento Methodist Assembly will be held on October 25-26. Sacramento is located about 30 miles southeast of Cloudcroft and 80 miles west of Artesia (in the Sacramento mountains). See their website for maps and directions. Schedule Highlights
12-2 Registration in the small cafe: Receive schedule according to math
level, get t-shirt, get picture taken
12-1 Lunch: Request form will go to teachers this week.
2 Kickoff and Epidemiology Overview
2:30 - 5:30 Three classes
5:30 Birthday Bash
7:30 Keynote
8:30 Elective or movie
11 Curfew
7:30 Breakfast
8:30 - 11:30 Three more classes
11:30 Lunch (Sack lunches for those who need to leave early.)
EpidemiologyFrom Project GUTS, here is an introduction to epidemiology: http://projectguts.org/files/Fileshare_Area493/Unit1/GUTS_unit1-Overview.pdf "Epidemiology is the scientific study of factors affecting the health and illness of populations. The basic premise of epidemiology is that the cause of a disease results in higher rates of the illness in those that have been exposed to the cause than in those who have not been exposed. And thus, one can look for the commonalities in those who are infected when searching for the cause. Epidemiology serves as the theoretical foundation and cornerstone methodology of public health research. Computer simulations are used in the field of epidemiology to study the spread of diseases and the outcomes of interventions made in the interest of public health and preventive medicine. Epidemiology was chosen as the first unit in the Project GUTS curriculum and for the Challenge yearly theme,because it is a timely and relevant subject and a topic that can be studied as a complex system using a variety of technology tools. We have seen students relate "infectivity" to many situations and scenarios they witness in every day life: the fads and fashions that spread through a school, the spread of rumors, and the infectious quality of bullying behavior have been chosen as students' research topics that relate to epidemiology." Supercomputing LinkThis week's link comes from Mr. G, the Library Guy, a teacher sponsor from Artesia High School. Keep those cards and letters coming about supercomputing and parallel processing. NASA Science News for October 6, 2009 FULL STORY at See you in two weeks! We can't wait. Sincerely yours, Monday Morning Message, October 5, 2009Team FormationThere are still 61 registered participants that haven't formed teams. Please form teams soon as part of step three of the Registration process. Team Entry Authorization FormsStep five of the registration process above is to submit with the TEAF for each team, along with the Supercomputing Challenge registration fee. Pre-SurveyHave you filled out the pre-Challenge survey at step seven of the registration process? Kickoff ScheduleWe hope to have the Kickoff Schedule ready to share with you soon. Much work is being done behind the scenes to make the Kickoff a valuable event for you. Mark your calendars, arrive in Sacrament, NM by 2:00pm on Sunday October 25. Classes and activities will be held Sunday afternoon and evening and on Monday morning. Lunch will be provided on Monday before your departure. Help us celebrate our 20th annual kickoff! ProposalsStep nine of the registration process is to prepare a Proposal about the project you wish to work on this year. See http://www.challenge.nm.org/proposals for details and submit your proposal online and bring a hard copy of it to the Kickoff so that you can discuss it with a scientist. Looking forward to see all of you October 25th! Monday Morning Message, September 28, 2009RegistrationOur registration is at 248 people. New schools to register this week are Tibbetts Middle School in Farmington, San Jon High and Hatch Valley High. After registering, start forming your teams. Click on "Register or Manage Teams" at https://mode.lanl.k12.nm.us/teamreg_login.php. 51 teams have registered so far, so there are still 83 students that need to form, or register, their teams. Please send in your in Team Entry Authorization Forms which can be found at http://challenge.nm.org/archive/09-10/teaf.pdf Class at the KickoffAre any of you out there mad scientists? Would you like to learn about Arduino? Learn about it at http://www.arduino.cc/ This micro-controller programming environment is based on the same editor as Processing uses. If we find that some of you are interested, we may offer this as an optional class on Sunday evening. Please write to consult @ challenge dot nm dot org with your interest. ResearchThe Oregon School Library Information System has six steps to doing research:
Step Four is Create. Steps One - Three are on our webpage under Newsflash. Putting It All Together - the Post-Search
Don't forget!Record titles, authors, publishers, dates and other relevant information for citation purposes. Research Terms DictionaryInteresting Supercomputing Linkhttp://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9138362/SGI_aims_at_personal_supercomputing_that_s_cheap_easy_to_useFrom Computer World, September 22, 2009 "They aren't selling personal supercomputers at Best Buy just yet. But that day probably isn't too far off, as costs continue to fall and supercomputers become easier to use." ProposalsDo you have an idea for a project? Start working on your proposal now. You can check out the two that have already been posted at: http://www.challenge.nm.org/proposals Most Challenge teams will have proposals posted before the Kickoff Conference and need to bring a hard copy of the proposal with them to the Kickoff. If you are a new team and are not sure about this process, bring your ideas and we will help you get a proposal planned at the Kickoff. Sincerely, Monday Morning Message, September 21, 2009If you have registered since last Monday, see the past MMMs at: http://www.challenge.nm.org/news_flash.shtml RegistrationOur registration is at 189 people. New schools to register this week are Deming High, Highland in ABQ, CEPi1 Charter School, Farmington, Jackson Middle in ABQ, Manzano in ABQ and Quemado who has already sent in their TEAF. What? They sent in their Team Entry Authorization Forms which can be found at http://challenge.nm.org/archive/09-10/teaf.pdfRegister today at http://challenge.nm.org/registration.shtml After registering, start forming your teams. (Click on "Register or Manage Teams" at the above link.) 20 teams have registered so far, so there are still 100 students that need to form, or register, their teams. Supercomputing LinkThe Supercomputing Challenge is an exciting program that offers a truly unique experience to students in our state. The opportunity to work on the most powerful computers in the world is currently available to only a very few students in the entire United States, but in New Mexico, it is just one of the benefits of living in the "Land of Enchantment." The Supercomputing Challenge is a program encompassing the school year in which teams of students complete science projects using high-performance supercomputers. Each team of up to five students and a sponsoring teacher defines and works on a single computational project of its own choosing. Throughout the program, help and support are given to the teams by their teacher sponsors and the Supercomputing Challenge organizers and sponsors. The Supercomputing Challenge is open to all interested students in grades 6 through 12 on a non-selective basis. The program has no grade point, class enrollment or computer experience prerequisites. Participants come from public, private, parochial and home-based schools in all areas of New Mexico. The important requirement for participating is a real desire to learn about science and computing. ResearchThe Oregon School Library Information System has six steps to doing research:
Step Three is Research
Don't forget!Record titles, authors, publishers, dates and other relevant information for citation purposes. Interesting Linkhttp://www.technologyreview.com/TR35/Profile.aspx?Cand=T&TRID=818 Complex physics simulations can run on everyday PCs. Adrien Treuille simplifies simulations by "streamlining the mathematical representation of a scenario, removing unlikely outcomes. For example, he says, a full simulation of how a shirt might be folded would include fantastic origami-style shapes." He also co-created a downloadable game called Foldit, "that allows players to fold and tug on simulations of known proteins to design new molecules." http://fold.it/portal/user/46/show_scores. More than 90,000 users have registered and played since the game's launch in May 2008. Treuille wonders if someone--perhaps even an amateur--might someday use Foldit to discover a protein that cures cancer." ProposalsStart working on a proposal for your project. One as already been posted at:
http://www.challenge.nm.org/proposals/ Got questions? consult @ challenge . nm . org Monday Morning Message, September 14, 2009It is State Fair time in Albuquerque. We know many of you participate through 4H and such, so good luck and enjoy that cotton candy. RegistrationNew schools to register this week are Chaparral Mid, Los Alamos High and Mid and the Media Arts Charter School. That takes us from Anthony through Albuquerque up to Los Alamos. Register today at http://challenge.nm.org/registration.shtml After registering, start forming your teams. (Click on "Register or Manage Teams" at the above link.) Fourteen teams have registered so far. Supercomputing LinkWhat is supercomputing? Why is this program called the Supercomputing Challenge? Supercomputing is performing computational science on high-performance computers. This statement introduces two questions: what is computational science, and what are high-performance computers. Computational science is a discipline in which a scientific problem, be it one of biology, physics, geology, medicine, engineering, or any other field, is modeled by one or more mathematical equations. These equations are typically so computationally intensive that it might take human beings years to solve the problem by traditional pencil and paper methods. Thus, these equations must be solved by a computer, where the work can be accomplished in relatively little time. Similarly, the output can be so complex that it must also be interpreted by a computer. Often this means displaying the output in some type of graphical format. As you can see, computational science isn't just computer programming, but it includes any general area of science along with math and computer science. The definition of a high-performance computer (or a supercomputer), changes daily since computers are continually getting stronger and faster. Therefore, a high-performance computer could simply be considered to be one of the "best" at the current time. Your current desktop is more powerful than the supercomputers teams used 20 years ago. The Supercomputing Challenge is an exciting program that offers a truly unique experience to students in our state. The opportunity to work on the most powerful computers in the world is currently available to only a very few students in the entire United States, but in New Mexico, it is just one of the benefits of living in the "Land of Enchantment." The "Challenge" is to come up with a project that could be expanded to require the processing power available with supercomputers. ResearchThe Oregon School Library Information System has six steps to doing research:
Step Two Plan
NASA LinkSpectacular First Images from the Rejuvenated Hubble Space Telescope Sincerely yours, Tuesday Morning Message, September 8, 2009Happy September! We hope you enjoyed your day off on Monday! RegistrationHave you ever heard that saying the early bird gets the worm? We have some early bird registration information: If we get that many students and teachers registering each week, we will reach our participant goal for this year. Register today at http://challenge.nm.org/registration.shtml ProposalsSo what problem is your team going to work on this year? We are going to study epidemiology together here online and at the kickoff. So you can do an epidemiology project. You can look at all the final reports from past years and study them and improve upon those. Look in the archives at http://challenge.nm.org/archive to find these projects. Or you can think up your own problem. Each of these three categories will have awards connected to them. Guidelines for proposals can be found at http://challenge.nm.org/proposals/proposal_guidelines.shtml We hope to have a Meet the Scientist workshop Sunday, the 25th in the Sacramento Mountains that will really help you with all of this technical writing and computational thinking. Supercomputing LinkEleanor Walther, judge, mentor, friend of the Challenge, at Sandia National Laboratories suggested this link Personal Supercomputers Promise Teraflops on Your Desk http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2009/08/personal-supercomputers ResearchThe Oregon School Library Information System has six steps to doing research:
Step One Define Resources: Define These are your tips for registering early. Thanks, Artesia, Espanola, Freedom High and Melrose for having several teams already registered. Sincerely yours, Monday Morning Message, August 31, 2009RegistrationRegistration is live at http://www.challenge.nm.org/registration.shtml Be the first one in your neighborhood to register. Registration deadline is September 30th. LinksEvery week we will be sharing either a research, supercomputing or science link. Please send us any interesting links that you come across. Research LinkWhat skills do college students need and does the Challenge help provide? The Challenge Board of Directors would like you to become a creator of technology, not just a consumer. We want to take you on a journey that is beyond Information Technology. We want you to "know about data and idea and combine these resources to solve problems." We want you to "move beyond using tools and information to creating tools and information". We want you to "manipulate data, using abstractions." Pat Phillips defined this as computational thinking. We borrowed these thoughts from a PowerPoint on the web, so we need to cite that source and if we were writing a technical paper, the citing would look like this. Phillips, Pat. Computational Thinking: Preparing Students to Succeed in the Creative Age. Retrieved August 29, 2009, from http://www.csta.acm.org/ProfessionalDevelopment/sub/CSIT09Presentations/Phillips_Computational.pdf. NASA LinkCOLBERT, Leonardo and a Neutralino Heading for Space Station TeachersThis is a seminal article by Jeanette Wing on Computational Thinking This topic would be a good one to use if you are teaching a Supercomputing
Class this year. Here is a class being offered at Towson College: Thoughts? Hoping your semester is off to a good start. We are looking forward to seeing you at the kickoff, October 25th and 26th in the Sacramento Mountains. Betsy, Celia and David, Monday Morning Message, August 24, 2009RegistrationRegistration opens September 1st. Start forming teams now. Please register at http://www.challenge.nm.org/registration.shtml Registration deadline is September 30th. Once all team members have registered individually, be sure to register the team: https://mode.lanl.k12.nm.us/teamreg_login.php Look Into The FutureImportant dates are available at http://challenge.nm.org/dates.shtml. Please note these dates in your school calendar, your personal calendar, the calendar on your refrigerator, etc. Kickoff ConferenceJoin us for the kickoff, classes and community building, in the Sacramento Mountains, Sunday, October 25 and Monday, the 26th. ProposalsTeams should be thinking about their projects and preparing a proposal. See http://www.challenge.nm.org/proposals for guidelines. Teams will have a chance to work with scientists on Sunday, the 25th to finalize a project. ThemeThe keynote theme at the Kickoff is epidemiology and several of the workshops will have examples of techniques used to study how diseases spread. Teams may wish to choose a project that relates to epidemiology. The website will also soon have suggested past projects that teams can study and improve. We are excited to be starting our 20th year and hope you can join in the celebrations! Sincerely yours, Monday Morning Message, August 17, 2009Are you ready for the 20th Annual Supercomputing Challenge? RegistrationStart forming teams to participate in the 20th annual New Mexico Supercomputing Challenge.
Registration opens September 1st at Registration deadline is September 30th. ProposalsHopefully teams have been thinking about their projects and preparing a proposal. See http://www.challenge.nm.org/proposals for guidelines. Kickoff ConferenceThe Kickoff Conference will be held October 25-26 in Sacramento, New Mexico. TeachersPlease print a flyer to place in your school for advertisement. http://www.challenge.nm.org/archive/09-10/invitation_flyer.pdf Here is the invite link: Is the Challenge hard? Remember our discussion of the Challenge as a Marathon at http://www.challenge.nm.org/archive/07-08/marathon.shtml NASA ConnectCheck out the Blast Back to School With NASA Educational Resources web page. Future topicsIn future Monday Morning Messages (MMMs), we will be sharing Science Links and Cool topics so if you have found something to share, let Consult know. Looking forward to a wonderful year, Betsy, Celia and David representing Consult, the Challenge Management Team These News Flashes are archived at http://www.challenge.nm.org/news_flash.shtml so that you can review them at a later date. There is also a link at the top of each Challenge web page pointing to Newsflash. |
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For questions about the Supercomputing Challenge, a 501(c)3 organization, contact us at: consult @ challenge.nm.org New Mexico Supercomputing Challenge, Inc. Post Office Box 30102 Albuquerque, New Mexico 87190 (505) 667-2864 Supercomputing Challenge Board of Directors Board page listing meetings and agendas |
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