Content about People

Link of the week - People behind the projects Clockwise from top left: Andoena Balla, University of Cyprus; Aaron Pondayi Masina, Chinhoyi University of Technology; Asterios Katsifodimos; University of Cyprus; Peter Hobson, Brunel University.Images courtesy of GridCafe Grid computing isn't faceless, nameless, sterile technology. Real people make it tick.  Who are these people and what makes THEM tick? Find out on CERN's GridCafé Web page People behind the projects. You'll find dancers, runners, music lovers, doting parents, cyclists, shoppers and pilots. People who felt their drive towards computers early in life and others who at the age of five envisioned a life under the hot sun in a tractor. People who want to bring opportunities and prosperity to their part of the world. People who love computers and think the grid is cool. People looking for the quickest path to discovery. People inspired by Ian Foster, by brain drain, by the Matrix.It really takes all kinds.  And what kind are you?  GridCa

  Image of the week - Letting off steam Everyone needs a little release now and then, even at OGF23, where members of the BEinGrid project took time out one afternoon to demonstrate their skills at tae kwon do in a conference room, while grid-releated slides flickered in the background. Photographer Sergio Andreozzi declined to participate—but did take pictures, which he then put on his blog and on the GridTalk website as a GridCast and as a slide show. (Hint: if you click through them really fast, they look like a slow-motion sequence in a Jackie Chan movie.) Image courtesy of Sergio Andreozzi, Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (INFN), CNAF    

  Announcement - Promote your grid people with GridTalk We’re sure you can find interesting people in your organization. Image courtesy of OSG, EGEE and GridPP  An exciting opportunity has opened up for grid projects and people to promote their work as part of the new GridTalk project. This is a fantastic chance to quickly and easily disseminate information about your grid site and projects to a global audience.Simply fill out the profile and send it to Cristy Burne of the GridTalk project by 27 June 2008. Please have fun with the profiles: the information should aim to show the real people behind grid technology.Submitted profiles will be used by GridTalk in the Resources section of International Science Grid This Week (iSGTW), in the GridCafé website, and in the GridGuide (to be incorporated with the Real Time Monitor), a new and interactive 3D application that allows users to learn more about grid computing around the world. These sites receive many thousands of hits every day: don’t miss this ex

Profile - Paola Celio: ARGO, ATLAS and growing the grid Some of the places Paola Celio has been are quite remote, as in the site of the Argo-YBJ gamma-ray detection experiment, located in Tibet, 90 km north of Lhasa.Image courtesy of Paola Celio Paola Celio, like many “grid people,” got her start in particle physics. Now a technical engineer at the Department of Physics at the Roma Tre University, and associated with the Italian National Nuclear Physics Institute, Celio has moved from physics to grid hardware and software, attracted by the tremendous potential of the field. “I started working with grids because I was interested in using something that involves many people, and because it is a field that is evolving very quickly,” Celio explains. “Grids are still in their infancy, but with them we can create a very different future. If we are successful, ultimately the whole scientific community will be able to use grids as just one more tool.”Celio is very keen to pass on her knowledge of grids.

  Link of the week - Old friends and new: iSGTW, GridCafé, GridTalk and more The GridTalk project harnesses the successes of existing grid communication projects International Science Grid This Week and GridCafé, creating a central hub for European grid communications. GridTalk will also tackle new missions dedicated to deciphering grid policy and showcasing the human face of grid computing.Images courtesy of GridTalk A new editorial team...A big welcome to Dan Drollette and Anne Heavey, who will be producing all-new editions of iSGTW as of next week. Dan comes from a strong background in science journalism and Anne has been an iSGTW contributing editor since our launch. Both are keen to hear your grid-related news and announcements so please drop them a line anytime.A new partner and project...And welcome to EU project GridTalk. Co-funded by the European Commission, GridTalk was launched last week and aims to create a unified and cohesive approach to European grid communications. The projec

  Opinion - International Summer School on Grid Computing: looking back, one year on Thanks to his ISSGC’07 experience, Andrew Jamieson and his colleagues are actively pursuing the possibility of gridifying aspects of their medical research work.Image courtesy of Andrew Jamieson Deadlines for the 2008 International Summer School on Grid Computing close on 5 May. Here, former student Andrew Jamieson reflects on his experiences at the 2007 summer school, held in Sweden. In 2007, with the aid of the Open Science Grid, I attended the International Summer School on Grid Computing in Sweden. Today, just over a year later, I am still involved in grid computing.My scientific background as a medical physicist researcher involves developing accurate computer-aided diagnosis (CAD) algorithms for breast mass lesions in X-ray mammography, ultra sound and MRI images. My colleagues and I are interested in using grid computing to push CAD and image analysis to a new level of exploratory power and scientific evalua

  Images of the week - CERN Open Day draws tens of thousands The GridCafé provided a friendly spot for visitors to learn about grid technology, discover the history of computing at CERN, take the challenge of grid-themed computer games, explore interactive grid maps, hot coffees, cakes and more.Image courtesy of Anton Topurov GridCafé volunteers answered the big questions for visitors from all over the world, explaining the difference between grid technology and the Internet and sharing the different ways in which grid technology is helping to fast-track scientific research.Image courtesy of Anton Topurov Volunteers showcased emerging technologies including GridMap (CERN openlab/EDS), a visualization that shows the status of different sites in the Worldwide Large Hadron Collider Computing Grid. Green indicates the site is “OK,” orange indicates degraded service and red indicates that the site is down.Image courtesy of Anton Topurov The CERN Computer Centre, just prior to

  Feature - Les Robertson: six years at the head of the LCG Les Robertson in 2001, “just before it [the LCG project] started,” and in 1974, when he first arrived at CERN.Images courtesy of Les Robertson In this special feature iSGTW chats to Les Robertson, who recently stepped down after six years at the head of the Large Hadron Collider Computing Grid.A hole in the funding bucket Democratic and global The Grid Challenges so far: the big three Our challenges for the future Countdown to startup In the beginning Les Robertson arrived at CERN in 1974 to fix a problem. The European physics research laboratory had just purchased a new supercomputer. The problem, says Robertson, was that it didn’t work.“At that time customers fixed their own operating systems,” he explains. “I arrived as an operating systems expert and stayed on.”Twenty-seven years later, Robertson began work on an entirely different problem: Preparations for the Large Hadron Collider were well underway, but the comput

Announcement -  Open Grid Forum launches Grid Thought Leadership series The Thought Leadership Series calls for new ideas, opinions and perspectives on grid and distributed computing.Stock image from sxc.hu The Open Grid Forum (OGF) recently launched its new on-line Thought Leadership Series to give thought leaders in grid and distributed computing the opportunity to express their ideas, opinions and perspectives. The series aims to stimulate discussion and provoke lively debate on a broad range of topics and issues facing the grid and distributed computing community. Wolfgang Gentzsch, coordinator of the German D-Grid Initiative; Geoffrey Fox and Marlon Pierce, from the Community Grids Laboratory at Indiana University; and Ian Foster from Argonne National Lab and the University of Chicago, kick-off the series with articles that provide a flavor of the diverse subject matter OGF hopes to address. Gentzsch’s article outlines the Top 10 Rules for Building a Sustainable Grid in his highly informative and practical

  Feature - Grids don’t take vacation A big thanks to those who are giving up their time over the end of year break to keep grids all over the world on-line.Image adapted from SouthPole.com While the rest of us are on vacation, enjoying a snowy (or scorching) end of year break, the grids we depend on keep crunching through jobs, sending a stream of data around the world. In fact, the end of year break sees many grid services working harder than ever. How does it happen? iSGTW took time off from our own hectic holiday schedule to see what goes on while the users’ away. Nicholas Thackray – CERN grid services Frank Würthwein – Open Science Grid applications coordinator Nicholas Thackray – CERN grid servicesOur users rely on continual service, even when they’re away on vacation. If this stops working we’re going to have a queue of people at the door, all wanting to beat us over the head with a stick. Previously things were so brand new that it was difficult to have an emergency prese

  Learn: Get on the grid with OSG Education Alina Bejan, coordinator of OSG Education Outreach and Training, would love to hear from those interested in using grid computing to power their research.Images courtesy of iSGTW Grid school veteran Ben Clifford has been involved with grids since 2000. He’s been teaching new users how to benefit from grid computing since 2002. Today, after teaching two one-day Open Science Grid workshops as part of the SC07 Education Program, Clifford sees many familiar faces in the SC07 crowd. Not all of them are new. “It’s very satisfying to see people I taught many years ago,” he says. “Many of them are working in grids or working to promote grid technology. It’s great to stay involved with such motivated people. They are still keen to learn more about how to lever grids for the benefit of their research or their students.” This enthusiasm is essential to becoming involved in grid computing, says Clifford.

  Feature - The path more travelled by: grids help track human migration Nicolas Ray uses Approximate Bayesian Computation—developed in 2002—to track the migration of humans through the centuries.Images courtesy of Rakesh Rampertab Today, families interested in an intercontinental move will probably go by plane, train or automobile. Several thousand years ago, adventurers had a harder time of it. Thanks to the plucky, pioneering efforts of early families, humans have managed to explore and settle every habitable region of the globe. Surviving the “bottlenecks” Two ancient migrations have particularly affected the shape of future generations: the “Out of Africa” event and the North to South colonization of the Americas. These migrations left traces in our genes still observable today. Described as “bottlenecks”—events where only a few individuals get through—the migrations may have caused a drastic reduction in population size and a corresponding drop