High school students to have STEM-focused summer at OSC

May 29, 2018
2017
Photo from the 2017 Summer Institute.

Columbus, Ohio (May 29, 2018) — Seventeen Ohio high school students will be spending two weeks this summer at the Ohio Supercomputer Center’s 29th annual Summer Institute, June 10-22 at The Ohio State University. The students will investigate complex science and engineering problems while discovering career opportunities in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM).

Since 1989, the Ohio Supercomputer Center (OSC)’s Summer Institute (SI)  has provided high school students with real-world, hands-on experience in high performance computing (HPC) and networking fields. SI attendees work in small groups to solve complex problems using OSC resources. Students hear from experts in various fields about STEM topics, giving them an insider’s view of the day-to-day life in these careers and how HPC can enhance opportunities.

Alan Chalker, Ph.D., director of strategic programs at the Ohio Supercomputer Center and SI alumnus, said the program can be a life-changing experience for students.

“Summer Institute is helping create a pipeline of future scientists, engineers, and researchers that will utilize our resources,” Chalker said. “As such, we want to expose them to a variety of things our clients are doing on our supercomputers and help them with decisions on what they’re going to do in their future endeavors.”

SI students take science- and engineering-related field trips to the Center for Automotive Research and Byrd Polar and Climate Research Center, as well as complete research projects. Past projects have included conducting network forensics to catch hackers, studying the spread of the bird flu, and designing computer games. Students also receive a behind-the-scenes look at OSU’s campus and experience a taste of college life by living in dorms.

OSC also provides a STEM enrichment summer program for middle school-aged girls through the Young Women’s Summer Institute (YWSI) in July. YWSI allows them to engage in scientific research while working with some of the nation’s best supercomputers at a young age. 

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EDITORS: The following identifies the students selected for SI. The list is arranged alphabetically by last name and identifies each student’s high school.

 

Karissa Barbu, Scioto High School

Priya Bhatt, Ottawa Hills High School

Aagam Dalal, New Albany High School

Nitish Dashora, Olentangy Liberty High School

Hannah Fouts, Olentangy High School

Anay Gautham, Indian Hill High School

Sarvesh Gupta, Dublin Coffman High School

Meghana Karthic, New Albany High School

Angela Li, Upper Arlington High School

Jacob Liu, Columbus Academy

Jack Liu, Phillips Exeter Academy

Ishika Majumder, Dublin Jerome High School

Abhishek More, Dublin Jerome High School

Sota Nishiyama, Dublin Coffman High School

Michael Sidenstick, St. Xavier High School

Meghana Tandon, Westlake High School

Raymond Tao, Hawken Upper School

The Ohio Supercomputer Center (OSC), a member of the Ohio Technology Consortium of the Ohio Department of Higher Education, addresses the rising computational demands of academic and industrial research communities by providing a robust shared infrastructure and proven expertise in advanced modeling, simulation and analysis. OSC empowers scientists with the vital resources essential to make extraordinary discoveries and innovations, partners with businesses and industry to leverage computational science as a competitive force in the global knowledge economy, and leads efforts to equip the workforce with the key technology skills required to secure 21st century jobs. For more, visit www.osc.edu.