A training program for scientific supercomputing users

An 11-week training program aimed principally at graduate and postdoctoral students in computationally intensive fields is described. The program is designed to provide a balance between the specificity of computing center courses, the abstractness of computer science courses, and the personal contact of traditional apprentice approaches. It consists of seminars and clinics given by many visiting and local faculty and covers a variety of supercomputing concepts, issues, and practices related to architecture, operating systems, software design, numerical considerations, code optimization, graphics, communications, and networks. Its research component encourages understanding of scientific computing and supercomputer hardware issues. Flexibility in thinking about computing needs is emphasized by the use of several different supercomputer architectures