In this class, you will practice reading, writing, and talking about technical material. We will be reading and discussing papers from the research literature to develop these skills, which are crucial to your success in the field no matter what you do after Knox. You will also gain an understanding of the culture and process of research.
Our technical focus this term will be on high-performance computing (HPC), which uses many processors working together. This includes their design, management of their resources, and potentially their applications and programming. We may also talk some about data centers, a related type of large system, but typically used for commercial applications like running "the cloud". No prior knowledge with any of these systems is required or expected.
We meet Monday, Wednesday, and Friday during 6th period (2:40-3:50) in SMC-A206.
I will not be able to attend class at our normal time on 9/25, 10/20, 10/23, or 11/13. At least most of these days will be replaced with prerecorded videos or other activities; details TBA as these days approach!
This class does not have an official textbook. Many of our meetings will be centered on papers from the research literature. I will post copies of these papers to Google Classroom. Also, see the schedule for the papers that have already been scheduled.
This class will require that you read and present research papers, participate in classroom discussions, and perform parts of the research process. Specifically, I anticipate the following kinds of assignments:
The format of this class makes it hard to accept late work. Certainly, presentations cannot be given late. Other assignments may be accepted late, but will be penalized by 10% per 24 hours late. Extensions will be given in extraordinary circumstances.
Research is a collaborative, interactive activity, and it depends on everyone's contribution being recognized. You may refer to outside sources for this class, but must carefully acknowedge ideas that are not your own and be sure that you yourself are making a contribution. Failure to acknowledge sources will get you a trip to the Honor Board. Providing or quoting the work of others will not constitute completing an assignment until you add your own contribution.
All the points will go into your total for the class. From this, I'll assign final grades using a scale at least as generous as the "standard" 90/80/70/60. I expect grades to be fairly high in this class; you will do well as long as you consistently attend, participate, and complete the assignments.