Create HTC23_David_Swanson_Awardees

New David Swanson Awardee Article

HTC23_David_Swanson_Awardees

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+---
+title: OSG David Swanson Awardees Honored at HTC23
+
+author: Sarah Matysiak
+
+publish_on:
+  - osg
+  - path
+  - CHTC
+
+
+
+type: user
+
+image:
+  path: CANNON TO ADD
+  alt: GP-ARGO node locations
+
+excerpt: Jimena González Lozano and Aashish Tripathee are 2023’s recipients of the David Swanson award for their research advancements with strategic use of high-throughput computing (HTC).
+
+
+---
+
+OSG leadership created the [OSG David Swanson Award](https://osg-htc.org/outreach/swanson-award/) in memoriam of Swanson, who championed throughout his life for both the success of his students and the expansion of OSG and research computing. David Swanson, who died suddenly in 2019, was a computer science and engineering research professor at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. The award reflects Swanson’s and [OSG School’s](https://osg-htc.org/user-school-2023/) emphasis on helping people develop their skills in technology and advancing science with large-scale computing, OSG research facilitation lead Christina Koch says. Researchers — like [Jimena González Lozano](https://www.physics.wisc.edu/directory/gonzalez-lozano-jimena/) and [Aashish Tripathee](https://lsa.umich.edu/physics/people/research-fellows/aashisht.html) who sought the OSG School’s high-throughput computing (HTC) resources to solve complex computational challenges, and in turn, were able to evolve their research projects — have been honored with the award since its establishment in 2019. González is a Department of Physics observational cosmology Ph.D. student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and Tripathee is a University of Michigan Physics post-doctoral research fellow.
+
+Awardees are provided the opportunity to share their research at the OSG All-Hands Meeting, which is part of the annual [2023 Throughput Computing (HTC23) conference](https://agenda.hep.wisc.edu/event/2014/contributions/), held in Madison, Wisconsin. “To have it in the context of recognizing a wonderful person like David is really meaningful. It’s like ‘Oh yes, this is why we’re doing what we’re doing,’ and it’s rewarding,” Koch reflects.
+
+
+As a David Swanson awardee, it’s an honor to be an example of how HTC and the OSG School transformed her research, González elaborates. “I couldn’t even explore new ideas [because it could take weeks to run one simulation], and it was around that time that I was reading all my emails carefully, and I saw the OSG User School [application] announcement,” González remembers. “They did a really good job at describing what you would learn and what high-throughput computing is. From that description, I thought that it was perfect for me. I applied, and then during the summer of 2021, I learned how to implement it, and it was very quick. After the first day, I already knew how to submit a job.”
+
+
+[Gonàzlez’s research](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LzzBHMr_WRA) on strong gravitational lenses in the dark energy survey implements HTC and machine learning. Strong gravitational lenses can image stars from which González can extract the position of the source and the magnification between the images. From the images, González creates thousands of simulations composed of millions of images while constraining the quality of the images. Because of the volume of simulations she needs to train, González could be left waiting for up to weeks using machine learning — and the tighter constraints, the greater the waiting time. This put its own constraints on which properties she could experiment with. Some ideas, Gonzàlez says, were impossible to do because she couldn’t do them quickly. Implementing HTC shortened the waiting time from *days to hours*. The OSG school also impacted other areas of González’s research, including training the machine and performing a complete search — each was reduced from long wait times spanning days to years to much more manageable wait times of as little as three hours.
+
+
+[Tripathee uses HTC](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hKA8H7TtMAg) for solving a big data challenge too. For one project on continuous gravitational waves, the data he collected spans a year and the entire sky, as well as the polarization over 24 times, resulting in 80 quadrillion templates. The solution, Tripathee said at HTC23, is looking at 500 billion templates per job. The answer for computing templates at a magnitude of a quadrillion is to use HTC, which helps with efficiency when running the numbers and makes the project possible. Without HTC, Tripathee’s jobs would’ve taken on average more than 10 hours for some or more than 24 hours for others. Through the OSG, Tripathee uses 22 million core hours, 1.4 million hours per month, and 47,000 hours per day.
+
+
+Tripathee’s mentor and OSG Deputy Executive Director Tim Cartwright encouraged Tripathee to self-nominate for the award. Upon learning he was chosen to receive the award, “It felt like a nice validation and a recognition of having used the [OSG] to perform research,” Tripathee says about receiving the award. Attending HTC23 event in Madison to receive the award was rewarding. “I also got to meet a lot of people… like the OSG faculty, Tim Cartwright in particular, and Christina [Koch]. There was a really nice opportunity and an honor to come to Madison, attend the event, and receive the award but also meet [David Swanson’s widow,] Ronda.”
+
+
+Acknowledging the great success of this regional network organization, the National Science Foundation (NSF)
+supports it. First, CyberTeam received a CC* award, and later, the entire GP-ARGO network received one — something that 
+no one has done before. “Applying as a network rather than a single institution made sense,” Andresen explained, “this 
+emphasizes this is a regional effort rather than an individual, institutional effort.”
+
+GP-ARGO has truly set the curve in taking on a project of this scale and magnitude and doing it successfully. Reflecting 
+on what went well, Andresen gleamed, “I mean, we did it! We’ve got it working; we’re among the top five OSG entry points, 
+we’ve contributed 13 million CPU hours of science, and we have people who are excited and involved, which has been incredibly 
+fun and exciting.”
+
+Furthermore, the team has ensured the sustainability of this operation. “Most of the institutions we're working with don't 
+have the expertise or the full-time employees to spare,” Andresen explained. Central administration by OSG has been instrumental 
+in this regard, especially recently, regarding restructuring administration roles with the leaving of Kyle Hudson. “If 
+something happens to whoever is the administrator, like leaving for another institution,” Hudson jokingly remarked, “we 
+have four people across four different institutions that all have administrative rights. I was a primary person doing that, 
+but I was not the only person who could do this, so somebody else can take over.”
+
+Part of GP-ARGO’s appeal lies in their determination and dedication to helping other consortiums and networks aiming to achieve 
+similar goals. They provide a Git repository with all their code and emphasize the importance of both social and technical networks. 
+“Building trust and familiarity is crucial,” Andresen advised. “Get involved with the OSG and get to know people; having Derek 
+[Weitzel] available as the interface has been invaluable. Knowing the context and the people is much easier than starting from scratch.”
+
+Despite the immense undertaking, Andresen commented on how fun and exciting the project has been, with the OSG playing a pivotal 
+role. “This program only builds stronger connections within the region between all these different professionals,” Weitzel 
+reflected. “It’s allowed us to reach out to different types of people, creating new opportunities that build on each other.”
+
+Echoing this sentiment, Hudson highlighted the project's impact in involving previously less-engaged institutions within GPN with the network's recent expansion from 18 to 19 campuses. “Cameron University heard about some of the things we're doing 
+through their state network, had a spare box, and asked if they could get involved!” Hudson explained.