MSI Users Bulletin - March 2019

The Users Bulletin provides a summary of new policies, procedures, and events of interest to MSI users. It is published quarterly.

To request technical assistance with your MSI account, please contact help@msi.umn.edu.

1. 2019 MSI Research Exhibition: MSI will host the annual Research Exhibition on April 16, 2019, in Walter Library. The event schedule will be posted on the MSI website as it is finalized.

The event includes a panel discussion by representatives of high-performance computing companies, who will discuss the types of qualifications and training successful applicants to their companies should have. The panel discussion is intended for grad students and post-docs who are interested in jobs in the HPC industry. All are invited.

Other events include:

  • Presentations by industry representatives about emerging and current HPC technologies
  • Visualizations created by MSI users in the Visualization Lab
  • Poster session with research by MSI users
  • Tours of the machine room
  • Light refreshments

2. Itasca Decommissioning: In November 2018, MSI announced a timeline for the decommissioning of Itasca. Due to high utilization and heavy demand, Itasca will not be decommissioned on April 3, 2019. MSI is working to update the Itasca decommissioning timeline and will notify users once a new retirement date is finalized.

Itasca will still need to be decommissioned, so MSI encourages users to continue the transition to Mesabi.

If you have questions or need assistance, please contact MSI Help through the Support Request form, via email to help@msi.umn.edu, or by calling 612-626-0802.

3. Spring Tutorials: The Spring Tutorial Schedule can be found on the MSI website.

Tutorials are also live-streamed on the MSI YouTube channel. Tutorials can also be viewed on the channel afterwards.

4. U-Spatial Mapping Prize: MSI’s Research Computing partner, U-Spatial, sponsors an annual contest to celebrate great design and cartography through maps of all kinds, static and interactive. Winners receive cash prizes. Information can be found on the U-Spatial Mapping Prize website. Entries are due May 3, 2019.

5. DMD Conference: The Design of Medical Devices Conference, sponsored by the Earl Bakken Medical Devices Center, will be held April 16-18, 2019, on the East Bank Campus. Registration is open (Early Bird rates apply through March 18, 2019). Complete information can be found on the conference website.

6. Programming and Pizza: Experienced programmers from Libraries, Liberal Arts Technology and Innovation Services, and Research Computing are available to help you out with your programming issues. Programming and Pizza sessions are held monthly at the Wilson Research Collaboration Studio (first floor, Wilson Library). Sessions are free, but you must sign up. The schedule for spring and summer is available on the DASH website.

7. Presentation on Artificial Intelligence: DASH and IAS are co-sponsoring a presentation called "The Real Promise of AI: How to Get AI-Human Collaboration to Work" as part of the Human in the Data series. It will be held on Friday, March 29, 1-2:30pm, in the Crosby Seminar Room, 240 Northrop. The presenter is Dr. Ece Kamar, a senior researcher at the Adaptive Systems and Interaction Group at Microsoft Research. This seminar is free and open to the public. Complete information can be found on the DASH website.

8. Jobs at MSI:

9. Useful Webpages: Looking for help with using MSI? One of these pages may have the information you need:

a. Services available at MSI

b. Getting Started (includes Quickstart Guides)

c. MSI Systems

d. Systems Status

e. Software at MSI

f. Help and Documentation

g. Staff Listing and Areas of Expertise

h. Upcoming Events and Tutorials

i. Proposal Support