29
Fri, Nov
0 New Articles

IBM Teams with BLADE Network Technologies and Intel to Promote Parallel Computing Among Students

Certification / Training
Typography
  • Smaller Small Medium Big Bigger
  • Default Helvetica Segoe Georgia Times

High school boot camp expands pipeline of future developers who can program parallel applications. 

BLADE Network Technologies, Inc., a leader in data center networking, announced it is teaming with IBM and the Intel Academic Community to change the way parallel computing is taught.

Clubhouse Parallel Universe, an intensive three-day programming boot camp at Brooklyn Technical High School concluded this week after challenging top programming students in New York City to "think parallel." The boot camp concluded with an exclusive demo by Bank of America's Jeffrey M. Birnbaum-who showcased a highly parallel database application on technology provided by Intel, IBM and BLADE Network Technologies.

Parallel processing is the simultaneous execution of the same task (split up and specially adapted) on multiple processors in order to obtain faster results. The parallel nature can come from a single machine with multiple processors or multiple machines connected together to form a cluster. Intel, IBM and BLADE have teamed up to demonstrate the power of parallel processing through single computers with multiple processors, or cores, operated on a high-performance Ethernet network.

Parallel processing is used in a wide variety of applications, including space exploration, calculating business risk, molecular modeling, weather forecasting, galaxy modeling, oil and gas operations, evaluating financial derivatives, designing wireless networks and in games. Today's high-performance desktop computers are empowering a new generation to employ parallel processing to solve complex problems without the need for multi-million dollar supercomputers or having to divide tasks across PC clusters. The confluence of lower-cost, high-performance computers and networks is a paradigm change in parallel processing engineering that Intel, IBM and BLADE Network Technologies are hoping to bring to high schools around the country.

For High School Teachers

"Our ultimate goal of teaming up with the Intel Academic Community and IBM is to support the development of a course of study for high school computer science teachers that will expand the pipeline of future software developers who can 'think parallel' and develop the next generation of applications for high performance computing," said Dan Tuchler, vice president of strategy and product management, BLADE Network Technologies. "The development of multiprocessor PCs and high performance networking are factors in a computing paradigm shift that can revolutionize the way parallel programming is done. On this 40th anniversary of the moon landing, we're very excited to be part of this boot camp which can be a model for empowering the next-generation of scientists and engineers to take us to places we can't even imagine."

To launch Clubhouse Parallel Universe, the Intel Academic Community (www.intel.com/thinkparallel) built a collaborative team, with Birnbaum, managing director, global head of platform solutions at Bank of America and a BLADE advisor, and Randy Asher, principal of the Brooklyn Technical High School (http://www.bths.edu/) and vice president of the National Consortium for Specialized Secondary Schools of Math, Science and Technology (http://www.ncsssmst.org) to implement the clubhouse with top technical high school students in New York.

Each day, students were given a parallel programming puzzle to ponder, and discuss a real-world software developer solution the following day. Instruction for the boot camp was provided by Intel experts, using the latest software development tools, including Intel Parallel Studio (http://software.intel.com/en-us/intel-parallel-studio-home/). The boot camp concluded with an exclusive demo by Birnbaum showcasing high-parallelized financial services software on a 32-core, System x3950 M2 server donated by IBM and running at BLADE's world-class data center networking lab in the Silicon Valley.

Adapted from University Courses

The curriculum is adapted from undergraduate and graduate materials created by the Intel Academic Community currently being implemented by professors at 1350 universities in 72 countries. This is the first time the curriculum has been adapted to the high school level. Based on the success of the boot camp pilot, the Intel Academic Community and Asher will determine best practices for teaching high school students parallel programming, and the potential of expanding the curriculum to other technical high schools and magnet schools through National Consortium for Specialized Secondary Schools of Math, Science andTechnology (http://www.ncsssmst.org).

For photos, videos, tweets, blog posts and information, see:

-- BLADE Twitter: @BLADENetwork (#thinkparallel)

-- BLADE Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/BLADE-Network-Technologies/107162475618

-- BLADE YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/bladenetwork

-- BLADE's CEO Blog: http://www.bladenetwork.net/CEO-Blog.html

-- Networking for High Performance Computing (HPC): http://www.bladenetwork.net/hpc

-- Intel Twitter: @intelsoftware, @intelevents and @intelswblog

-- Intel Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/intelsoftwarenetwork or http://bit.ly/ISNonFB

-- Intel in Education: http://intel.com/thinkparallel

-- Intel YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/intelswnetwork

-- Intel Software Network TV: http://www.intel.com/software/tv or http://www.intel.com/software/tvhttp://bit.ly/isntv

-- Academic Videos: http://software.intel.com/en-us/videos/category/academic/1/1/

-- Intel Academic Community: http://intel.com/software/academic

-- Intel Parallel Studio: http://software.intel.com/en-us/intel-parallel-studio-home/

About BLADE Network Technologies

BLADE Network Technologies is the leading provider of Gigabit and 10G Ethernet cloud ready networking solutions for servers and storage in dynamic data centers worldwide. In addition to its innovative OEM blade switches, virtualization, and management products, BLADE's "Virtual, Cooler, Easier" RackSwitch family enables "Rackonomics" -- an efficient approach for scaling out data center networks to drive down total cost of ownership at the rack-level. BLADE's customers include more than 300 of the Fortune 500 across 26 industry segments, for an installed base representing more than 250,000 network switches and nearly 6 million switch ports connecting over 1,200,000 systems. Visit: www.bladenetwork.net. Twitter: @BLADENetwork.

MC Press Online's staff of reporters and editors are trained professionals who share a background in journalism and have a passion for technology. Many have been in the IBM midrange industry for more than 20 years and have a keen sense of what's important to IBM i and Power Systems users. If you have a news tip, story idea, or press release, email it to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

BLOG COMMENTS POWERED BY DISQUS

LATEST COMMENTS

Support MC Press Online

$

Book Reviews

Resource Center

  • SB Profound WC 5536 Have you been wondering about Node.js? Our free Node.js Webinar Series takes you from total beginner to creating a fully-functional IBM i Node.js business application. You can find Part 1 here. In Part 2 of our free Node.js Webinar Series, Brian May teaches you the different tooling options available for writing code, debugging, and using Git for version control. Brian will briefly discuss the different tools available, and demonstrate his preferred setup for Node development on IBM i or any platform. Attend this webinar to learn:

  • SB Profound WP 5539More than ever, there is a demand for IT to deliver innovation. Your IBM i has been an essential part of your business operations for years. However, your organization may struggle to maintain the current system and implement new projects. The thousands of customers we've worked with and surveyed state that expectations regarding the digital footprint and vision of the company are not aligned with the current IT environment.

  • SB HelpSystems ROBOT Generic IBM announced the E1080 servers using the latest Power10 processor in September 2021. The most powerful processor from IBM to date, Power10 is designed to handle the demands of doing business in today’s high-tech atmosphere, including running cloud applications, supporting big data, and managing AI workloads. But what does Power10 mean for your data center? In this recorded webinar, IBMers Dan Sundt and Dylan Boday join IBM Power Champion Tom Huntington for a discussion on why Power10 technology is the right strategic investment if you run IBM i, AIX, or Linux. In this action-packed hour, Tom will share trends from the IBM i and AIX user communities while Dan and Dylan dive into the tech specs for key hardware, including:

  • Magic MarkTRY the one package that solves all your document design and printing challenges on all your platforms. Produce bar code labels, electronic forms, ad hoc reports, and RFID tags – without programming! MarkMagic is the only document design and print solution that combines report writing, WYSIWYG label and forms design, and conditional printing in one integrated product. Make sure your data survives when catastrophe hits. Request your trial now!  Request Now.

  • SB HelpSystems ROBOT GenericForms of ransomware has been around for over 30 years, and with more and more organizations suffering attacks each year, it continues to endure. What has made ransomware such a durable threat and what is the best way to combat it? In order to prevent ransomware, organizations must first understand how it works.

  • SB HelpSystems ROBOT GenericIT security is a top priority for businesses around the world, but most IBM i pros don’t know where to begin—and most cybersecurity experts don’t know IBM i. In this session, Robin Tatam explores the business impact of lax IBM i security, the top vulnerabilities putting IBM i at risk, and the steps you can take to protect your organization. If you’re looking to avoid unexpected downtime or corrupted data, you don’t want to miss this session.

  • SB HelpSystems ROBOT GenericCan you trust all of your users all of the time? A typical end user receives 16 malicious emails each month, but only 17 percent of these phishing campaigns are reported to IT. Once an attack is underway, most organizations won’t discover the breach until six months later. A staggering amount of damage can occur in that time. Despite these risks, 93 percent of organizations are leaving their IBM i systems vulnerable to cybercrime. In this on-demand webinar, IBM i security experts Robin Tatam and Sandi Moore will reveal:

  • FORTRA Disaster protection is vital to every business. Yet, it often consists of patched together procedures that are prone to error. From automatic backups to data encryption to media management, Robot automates the routine (yet often complex) tasks of iSeries backup and recovery, saving you time and money and making the process safer and more reliable. Automate your backups with the Robot Backup and Recovery Solution. Key features include:

  • FORTRAManaging messages on your IBM i can be more than a full-time job if you have to do it manually. Messages need a response and resources must be monitored—often over multiple systems and across platforms. How can you be sure you won’t miss important system events? Automate your message center with the Robot Message Management Solution. Key features include:

  • FORTRAThe thought of printing, distributing, and storing iSeries reports manually may reduce you to tears. Paper and labor costs associated with report generation can spiral out of control. Mountains of paper threaten to swamp your files. Robot automates report bursting, distribution, bundling, and archiving, and offers secure, selective online report viewing. Manage your reports with the Robot Report Management Solution. Key features include:

  • FORTRAFor over 30 years, Robot has been a leader in systems management for IBM i. With batch job creation and scheduling at its core, the Robot Job Scheduling Solution reduces the opportunity for human error and helps you maintain service levels, automating even the biggest, most complex runbooks. Manage your job schedule with the Robot Job Scheduling Solution. Key features include:

  • LANSA Business users want new applications now. Market and regulatory pressures require faster application updates and delivery into production. Your IBM i developers may be approaching retirement, and you see no sure way to fill their positions with experienced developers. In addition, you may be caught between maintaining your existing applications and the uncertainty of moving to something new.

  • LANSAWhen it comes to creating your business applications, there are hundreds of coding platforms and programming languages to choose from. These options range from very complex traditional programming languages to Low-Code platforms where sometimes no traditional coding experience is needed. Download our whitepaper, The Power of Writing Code in a Low-Code Solution, and:

  • LANSASupply Chain is becoming increasingly complex and unpredictable. From raw materials for manufacturing to food supply chains, the journey from source to production to delivery to consumers is marred with inefficiencies, manual processes, shortages, recalls, counterfeits, and scandals. In this webinar, we discuss how:

  • The MC Resource Centers bring you the widest selection of white papers, trial software, and on-demand webcasts for you to choose from. >> Review the list of White Papers, Trial Software or On-Demand Webcast at the MC Press Resource Center. >> Add the items to yru Cart and complet he checkout process and submit

  • Profound Logic Have you been wondering about Node.js? Our free Node.js Webinar Series takes you from total beginner to creating a fully-functional IBM i Node.js business application.

  • SB Profound WC 5536Join us for this hour-long webcast that will explore:

  • Fortra IT managers hoping to find new IBM i talent are discovering that the pool of experienced RPG programmers and operators or administrators with intimate knowledge of the operating system and the applications that run on it is small. This begs the question: How will you manage the platform that supports such a big part of your business? This guide offers strategies and software suggestions to help you plan IT staffing and resources and smooth the transition after your AS/400 talent retires. Read on to learn: