Leading the Way to High Performance Careers

Vahid reporting on the progress of a project he is currently working on.

From Fun and Games to Serious Computing

What started out as having fun with computer games turned into a serious passion for high-tech computing. This was how Vahid Pazirandeh began his interest in computers.

Vahid is a computer science undergraduate at SDSU and currently a Research Experience Undergraduate (REU) and student programmer at the Education Center on Computational Science & Engineering (the EdCenter). "Actually, Vahid is the center's de facto assistant systems administrator," said Jeff Sale, staff scientist at the EdCenter. He said Vahid has exceptional talents and has contributed much to the center's present computer system.

General Learning Outcomes for EdCenter REUs (Research Experience for Undergraduates)

Incorporate high performance research and computational tools for scientific investigation.
Decide, with university faculty and ECCSE professionals, on what tools to use to achieve specific project goals.
Develop and implement approved strategies to achieve specific project goals.
Evaluate and document project performance using approved parameters.

Specific Learning Outcomes for REU Vahid Pazirandeh on Project Condor

Perform a review of relevant literature for Condor, a powerful utility that networks desktop workstations to allow them to work in parallel on given problems.
Establish a strategy for the implementation of Condor on a small preliminary test network.
Evaluate performance of Condor on the test network under a variety of conditions.
Assess the feasibility of integrating public key encryption into the test network.
Document work and results appropriate for public distribution.
Present work at relevant professional conferences such as the ACM Conference on Computer and Communications Security and Supercomputing.
Research security issues related to high-throughput computing.
Research methods for identifying security weaknesses within the network.
Work with campus security experts to propose and implement strategies to address these weaknesses.
Develop and implement approved strategies for striking a balance between security and optimized performance.

Not surprisingly, Vahid chose to study computer science. "I became an REU because of a job posting at the EdCenter. That was when I started to work on my project to use Condor." Condor is a powerful utility that networks desktop stations to work in parallel on given problems. Vahid was intrigued with the project and the potential of Condor. "I was not aware of a program this robust."

Project Implementation Process

Once accepted as an REU, Vahid had to review volumes of documentation to get acquainted with Condor. The center provides the bulk of the material, but the REU is expected to do a lot more research. "The center makes decisions on what they [REUs] should be doing, not necessarily on how they should do it," said Mr. Sale. "However," he added, "we at the center provide supervision and technical support. We have staff programmers to provide guidance to our REUs. Most importantly, we facilitate the availability of university resources for our projects."

Vahid concurred that he has control over the technical aspects of a project. He was glad the center took care of getting permission from other computer labs to make their resources available for his project.

Installing Condor was not without problems. Vahid encountered bugs during the preliminary testing of the utility. It took trial runs and a lot of help from the developers of Condor. Initially, there were problems with the lack of equipment but this was immediately taken care of through effective resourcing by the center.

With the help of center staff, Vahid, established a strategy to implement Condor on a test network. This was to be described in a project proposal.

Enjoying Work

Implementing Condor was pure delight for Vahid, a natural when it comes to computers. "That's how computer nerds have fun!"

Asked what he intends to do after college Vahid said, "I want to enjoy my first job!" He hopes to work at the San Diego Supercomputer Center where programmers work on different projects, much like what he has been exposed to at the EdCenter.

Evaluating EdCenter REU student achievement

Once implemented and tested, Vahid had to make a performance evaluation report and present it to professionals in the computing field. Vahid was able to test and evaluate Condor under different hardware and operating systems and/or platforms. (See PACI REU Proposal and Report on Condor)

Evaluating the EdCenter's Role

The EdCenter has successfully implemented several projects. A few caught the interest of government and private agencies that have adopted them to varying degrees. (See EdCenter Project "Enhancing SCEC CEO efforts with innovative web technologies: Application to the California Seismic Safety Commission")

Making EdCenter's Role Better

Jeff Sale: "We would like to continue to have more students working on super computing projects. We hope to be able to make more university faculty aware of the center and be able to work together with them." This is in line with the center's mission: "to support the incorporation of high performance research tools for scientific investigation into the undergraduate curriculum."

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