Training, education, and outreach: raising the bar

Abstract

This paper describes our efforts to help expand computational and data-enabled science and engineering by educating faculty, students, and staff at the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) to advance scientific discovery through the use of cyberinfrastructure. The best practices used to plan, execute, and evaluate the workshop are discussed, and the results of a professional assessment of the workshop are presented. The two-day regional workshop held at UTEP on February 19 and 20, 2013 attracted 100 registrants. It was the largest, most diverse, and most comprehensive workshop that XSEDE has conducted to date. Since the workshop was located at UTEP, it addressed the inclusion of communities that are traditionally under-represented and under-served in STEM, including women and minorities. Note that UTEP is a Hispanic-serving institution with a student population that mirrors the region, i.e., it serves 22,700 students, 77% of whom are Hispanic. In addition, because of its focus, this effort also is meaningful in terms of sustaining a large and diverse scientific, academic, and industrial workforce.