RCC’s HPC workshop with Prof. Jesus Labarta from the Barcelona Supercomputing Center (BSC) last month was a success, with 23 attendees and a very positive response to the post-workshop survey.
Prof. Labarta, Director of BSC’s Computer Sciences Research Department, led an intensive workshop on advanced parallel application profiling on HPCs at RCC on 16–18 September.
He trained researchers on how to use the suite of application performance analysis tools developed at the BSC, named Extrae, Paraver and Dimemas.
Researchers, who hailed from Engineering and IT at UQ, QAAFI and the Queensland Government’s Department of Science, were also given time to characterise their own codes with Prof. Labarta’s guidance.
One researcher in their post-workshop survey response said: “This was a workshop on details. The presenter (Prof. Labarta) knew those details and explained them well, Also, sufficient time was allowed to actually try things. I learned a lot.”
The researcher added: “And as a bonus, we made several improvements to our code during the workshop.”
All those who completed the workshop survey said they had registered for the course to increase their awareness of the topic, and most specified they wanted to be able to understand performance of their HPC codes.
Three attendees also said they needed to upskill for a current or upcoming project, and another trio said they had participated for professional development and career progression.
As a result of the workshop, RCC staff are now trained in using BSC’s advanced tools, which are available on RCC HPC systems. HPC users interested in profiling their applications should contact RCC for assistance: rcc-support@uq.edu.au.
RCC Director Prof. David Abramson has collaborated with BSC over the last two years, and invited Prof. Labarta to visit UQ during his last visit to Barcelona in June this year.
See RCC’s website for more information about the workshop.
