Students explore technology at Ohio Supercomputer Center’s Summer Institute

COLUMBUS, Ohio (Jun 18, 2013) — 

SI_logo_0.pngSixteen high school students from around Ohio will be attending the Ohio Supercomputer Center’s 24th annual Summer Institute (SI) on June 16-28, 2013, at The Ohio State University. These academically gifted students, chosen from 50 applicants, will engage in university-level research while working with some of the nation’s best supercomputers.

The SI 2013 students will gain a competitive advantage in their future academic and professional pursuits as they join the extraordinary list SI alumni, including those who have graduated from MIT, Cornell and Harvard with degrees in computer science and software engineering.

SI 2013 Student Projects

1. Image Processing

Students will find comets in sun observation images by developing algorithms to analyze these pictures

2. Cancer Cell Migration

Students will explore cancer cell migration by modeling a step where the cells detach from the primary tumor

3. High-Performance Programming

Students will study supercomputer programming by learning techniques to improve computational performance

4. Lab-on-a-chip Nanofluidics

Students will research future diagnostic equipment by exploring methods of fluid transport in nanostructures

The Ohio Supercomputer Center (OSC) hosts this annual two-week residential summer retreat in an effort to provide opportunities for current high school freshman, sophomore and junior students to learn and succeed in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields.

Alan Chalker, Summer Institute Director and 1991 participant states, “SI exposes some of Ohio’s best and brightest students to STEM fields.” Chalker also credits the summer program as one of the ways OSC fulfills its mission to support economic development in the state. “Ohio needs a pipeline of researchers and professionals skilled in modeling and simulation; SI often provides the first stop in filling that workforce pipeline.”

During Summer Institute, students tour Ohio State’s research facilities while getting a taste of college life by staying in the university’s residence halls. Students develop team building, communication and leadership skills as they complete various group projects throughout the two-week program. (See sidebar for details.) Finally, the teams present their findings at a closing ceremony to an audience of scientists, OSC staff, parents and various SI alumni.

Evren Gokcen, SI 2011 participant from Gahanna Lincoln High School, explained the SI experience as very different from high school learning environments. “In high school science, math and computer classes, you learn the material out of a book. You know the facts but you don’t know how to use them. Finally, here at the Summer Institute, you learn how to implement those facts in real world problems,” Gokcen said.

OSC provides additional education programs for STEM enrichment through the Young Women’s Summer Institute for middle school girls to explore interesting and practical scientific problems and develop a love for science and technology.  OSC also provides numerous internships for Columbus Metro High School students.

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EDITORS: The following identifies the students selected for SI. The list is arranged by last name and identifies the high school each attends along with his or her hometown.

 

Aron Aziz, Columbus Academy, Westerville

Mahesh Dhulipala, Dublin Scioto High School, Columbus

Elizabeth Grace, Cincinnati County Day School, Milford

Sophia Halter, Olentangy High School, Delaware

Syed-Amad Hussain, Centennial High School, Columbus

Hemanth Koralla, Olentangy Liberty High School, Powell

Rahul Kumar, Olentangy Academy, Columbus

Christina Liu, Thomas Worthington High School, Columbus

Divya Madhavan, Brecksville Broadview Heights High School, Broadview Heights

Mehul Patel, The Seven Hills School, Mason

Maya Sheth, Sycamore High School, Cincinnati

Disha Shidham, Upper Arlington High School, Columbus

Abhimanyu Singhal, Dublin Coffman High School, Dublin

Vincent Tong, Bellbrook High School, Bellbrook

Ashish Vankara, Thomas Worthington High School, Westerville

Julian Vitto, Canfield High School, Canfield

Follow the program’s daily events on Facebook at www.facebook.com/oscsi and on Twitter @osc.

 

 

The Ohio Supercomputer Center (OSC), a member of the Ohio Technology Consortium of the Ohio Board of Regents, 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.