ERN @ PEARC'24
2024-07-21 08:00 - 2024-07-25 17:00 (America/New_York)
PEARC’24 is being held July 21-25, 2024, in Providence, RI, and ERN will be participating in the activities listed below discussing ERN and our recent projects. We look forward to seeing you there.

Tuesday, July 23

Community of Communities

Co-Location Event

12:30 PM – 2:00 PM Ballroom C

Panelists: Dana Brunson – Internet2, Tom Cheatham – CARCC, Sandra Gesing – US-RSE, Forough Ghahramani – Campus Champions, John Goodhue – MGHPCC, Julie Ma – Open OnDemand, Henry Neeman – Virtual Residency Program, Andy Sherman – CAREERS, Barr von Oehsen – ERN

The Community of Communities (CoCo) working group envisions connecting communities of RCD++ (Research Computing and Data, broadly defined) professionals. The working group advocates for the role of RCD professionals in a way that such professionals can find organizations that align with their interests and goals, exchange experiences to further their knowledge, expertise, and skill sets, and enable them to feel part of a community that values and incentivizes their work. A key goal of the group is to develop a comprehensive mapping of the RCD ecosystem and guide people to suitable activities and projects/initiatives in the ecosystem such as CaRCC, Campus Champions, US-RSE (to name a few, but by no means an exhaustive list). These connections may be of particular interest to those just starting out in RCD or those looking to build collaborative relationships.The CoCo working group grew out of the Community of Communities Working Group associated with the NSF CI Workforce Development Workshop in 2020. This CoCo recruiting event invites everyone interested and part of the RCD ecosystem to participate, connect, and share experiences, defining collaboration possibilities and developing a vision for the future of the RCD ecosystem.

Wednesday July 24

The Evolving ERN Cryo-EM Federated Instrument Pilot Project

Systems & Software Track Session 611:50 AM – 12:00 PM Room 553 A&B

Authors: Maureen Dougherty, Barr von Oehsen, Jason Kaelber, Jeremy Schafer, Bala Desinghu, Morgan Ludwig and John Goodhue

The Ecosystem for Research Networking (ERN) CryoEM Remote Instrument Access Pilot Project addresses the challenges and barriers facing the transition of instrument-driven science self-contained islands to federated wide-area internet accessible instruments. This project’s goal is to facilitate cross-institutional infrastructure sharing at the interface of computing and electron microscopy through a web portal leveraging federated access to one or more instruments, workflows/pipelines utilizing edge computing in conjunction with advanced computing, along with real-time monitoring for experimental parameter adjustments and decision making. The intent is to foster team science and scientific innovation, with emphasis on under-represented and under-resourced institutions, through the democratization of scientific instruments. This paper presents a short summary of some of the challenges encountered with the latest development efforts of this active project, creating a FABRIC Cloudlet and incorporating Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center’s Bridges-2 as an advanced computing option.

Enhancing Research Infrastructure and Workforce Diversity in Higher Education through Strategic Collaboration and Investment – PEARC24

Workforce Development, Training, Diversity and Education Track Session 312:10 PM – 12:25 PM Junior Ballroom

Authors: Forough Ghahramani, Sunita Kramer, Barr von Oehsen, Maureen Dougherty and John Hicks

Many smaller and under-resourced institutions, including MSIs, HSIs, HBCUs, and EPSCoR institutions, are engaged in significant science research and education and recognize the value of enhanced access to advanced computing resources. Collaborations, shared resources, and expertise from local, regional, and national levels can substantially support their internal efforts. The Ecosystem for Research Networking (ERN) Broadening the Reach (BTR) working group is actively learning from these institutions on how to better support their needs. The group’s findings and recommendations, derived from community engagement, will be shared, as part of the NSF-sponsored CC*CRIA grant OAC-2018927.

The Ecosystem for Research Networking Summit 2025
2025-04-23 12:00 - 17:00
VIRTUAL EVENT

PRESENTATIONS AND REPORTING FROM THIS MEETING

The virtual Ecosystem for Research Networking (ERN) Summit 2025 was held on April 23rd. The theme of Summit 2025 was Addressing Advanced Technologies, Quantum, AI, and Workforce Development. This free conference was open to both researchers and educators at R1 and non-R1 institutions, industry, and government leaders.

The keynote speaker was Dan Stanzione, Ph.D., Associate Vice President for Research, Executive Director, Texas Advanced Computer Center (TACC). This was followed up by three panels discussing the impact of AI and Quantum on regional economic and workforce initiatives, industry-academic partnerships for preparing the workforce, and perspectives from non-R1 institutions. Participants heard from industry, domain researchers, and CI professionals, and joined in discussions on the impacts these advanced technologies are having in the research community.

Agenda

(All times are EDT)

12:00 – 12:15 Welcome

Summit 25 Co-Chairs – Forough Ghahramani, Ed.D., Vice President for Research & Innovation, NJedge

Maureen Dougherty, Ecosystem for Research Networking (consultant)

Opening Remarks Barr von Oehsen, Ph.D., Director, Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center

12:15 – 1:15 Keynote Speaker

Dan Stanzione, Ph.D., Executive Director, Texas Advanced Computer Center (TACC), Associate Vice President for Research, UT-Austin,

“AI and HPC, or AI Ends HPC?”

1:15 – 2:15 Panel 1: Regional Economic and Workforce Initiatives for AI and QuantumExplore the interplay between advanced technologies and regional innovation ecosystems.

Moderator: Barr von Oehsen, Ph.D., Director Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center

Panelists:

Craig B. Arnold, Ph.D., The Susan Dod Brown Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering and Vice Dean for Innovation, Princeton University

Michael Bennett, Ph.D., Director of Education and Workforce Development, Q-SEnSE Quantum Leap Challenge Institute, University of Colorado Boulder

Robert J. Harrison, Ph.D., Executive Director of Empire AI; Professor of Applied Mathematics & Statistics, Founding Endowed Director of the Institute for Advanced Computational Science (IACS), Stony Brook University

John Goodhue, Executive Director, Massachusetts Green High Performance Computing (MGHPCC)

Barr von Oehsen, Ph.D., Director, Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center

2:15 – 3:15 Panel 2: Industry-Academic Partnerships for Preparing the Workforce for Quantum Explore curricular innovations and partnerships that prepare the future quantum workforce.

Moderator: Florence Hudson, Executive Director, Northeast Big Data Innovation Hub Columbia University

Panelists:

Douglas Jennewein, Executive Director, Research Technology Office, Arizona State University (Quantum Collaborative)

David Liu, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Computer Science, Quantum Science and Engineering Institute, Purdue University

Hanna Terletska, Ph.D., QSInitiative Leader, Associate Professor, Department of Physics & Astronomy, Middle Tennessee State University

Monica VanDieren, Ph.D., Senior Technical Marketing Engineer for Quantum Computing and HPC, NVIDIA

Benjamin Zwickl, Ph.D., Associate Professor, School of Physics and Astronomy, Rochester Institute of Technology

3:15 – 4:15 Panel 3:Perspectives from Non-R1 Smaller InstitutionsHighlight innovations, constraints, and opportunities unique to non-R1 institutions.

Moderator: Carrie Rampp, Vice President and Chief Information Officer, Franklin & Marshall College

Panelists:

Damian Clarke, Ph.D., Vice President, Technology Services, Alabama State University

Wiebke Kuhn, Ph.D., Director of Academic Technology, Carleton College

Jason Simms, Ph.D., Research Computing Manager, Swarthmore College

Kyriakos Tsoukalas, Ph.D., Associate Director, Research and High Performance Computing, Colgate University

4:15 – 4:45 Open Discussion and Collaboration

4:45 – 5:00 Closing Remarks

Any questions, let us know via email at info@ern.ci.

Thank you,

The ERN Steering Committee

ERN Summit 2025 is supported by NSF CC* CRIA grant (OAC-2018927)

ERN @ PEARC'25
2025-07-20 08:00 - 2025-07-24 17:00
PEARC’25 is being held July 20-24, 2025, at the Columbus Convention Center in Columbus, Ohio, and ERN will be participating in the activity listed below discussing ERN and our recent projects. We look forward to seeing you there.

Presentation

Wednesday, July 23

BOF-15: Further Conversations from the Ecosystem for Research Networking Summit Series

Speakers:

Barr von Oehsen, Ph.D., Directory, Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center,

Forough Ghahramani, Ed.D., Vice President for Research & Innovation NJedge

Maureen Dougherty,Ecosystem for Research Networking

2:00 PM – 3:00 PM Room A216

The ERN Summit series provides the research community a forum to come together to discuss challenges and opportunities of R1 and non-R1 institutions regarding research collaborations, resource accessibility, regional and national support communities, emerging technologies of AI and quantum, and innovative workforce development programs. The ERN Birds of a Feather (BoF) offers a venue to extend these conversations with the broad spectrum of stakeholders and participants of PEARC’25, where they can share their experiences and thoughts on the topics, learn from other institutions/researchers, and build collaborative contacts. The information gathered here would enhance and augment the Summit’25 findings and recommendations to the research community, funding agencies, and shape ERN future programs and be shared with the research community through ERN’s website.

Quantum Webinar Series
2025-10-17 13:00 - 14:00
The Ecosystem with Research Networking and the Northeast Big Data Innovation Hub (NEBDHub) have partnered to host a series of webinars focusing on Quantum Computing. This dynamic series will convene leading researchers, industry innovators, and educators to explore the evolving frontiers of quantum science and technology. These virtual events are designed for learners, educators, researchers, and professionals, each interactive session will span topics from foundational principles to cutting-edge real-world application, bridging disciplines and sparking discovery.

Preparing Students for Accelerated Quantum Supercomputing

Dr. Monica VanDieren – Senior Technical Marketing Engineer for Quantum Computing and HPC, NVIDIA

Register here for October’s free, virtual webinar, “The Developing World of Quantum Computing”, scheduled for Friday, October 17th, 2025 from 1:00PM – 2.00 PM ET.

Driving the CUDA-Q Academic initiative, Dr VanDieren actively collaborates with educational institutions and industry partners to develop training programs and equip students and professionals with cutting-edge skills in quantum and high-performance computing. Before joining NVIDIA, she contributed to IBM’s Quantum Accelerator program. With a Ph.D. in Mathematical Sciences from Carnegie Mellon University, she brings over 20 years of academic experience at universities such as Stanford, University of Michigan, and Robert Morris University to her work.

For additional information, feel free to contact info@ern.ci.

Quantum Webinar Series - December 5, 2025
2025-12-05 13:00 - 14:00
The Ecosystem for Research Networking and the Northeast Big Data Innovation Hub (NEBDHub) have partnered to host a series of webinars focusing on Quantum Computing. This Dynamic series will convene leading researchers, industry innovators, and educators to explore the evolving frontiers of quantum science and technology. These virtual events are designed for learners, educators, researchers, and professionals. Each interactive session will span topics from foundational principles to cutting edge real-world application, bridging disciplines and sparking discovery.

Quantum-Centric HPC: Practicalities, Use Cases and Facilitation

Quantum computing holds immense promise for achieving computational gains once thought unattainable, given the physical limits to classical compute resources. Certain classes of problems could benefit greatly from speedups obtainable from the exploitation of superposition and entanglement by quantum computing systems. This presentation will look at realistic instances in the current noisy intermediate-scale quantum (NISQ) -era, how these (and other use cases) might scale with quantum hardware, and strategies for integration of quantum resources with HPC.

Introducing and assimilating quantum computing-related protocols to conventional compute paradigms inevitably complicate the challenges facing facilitators; we will leave time for discussion centering on audience ideas and questions on easing the inclusion of the exciting and paradigm-changing quantum computing technologies.

Dr. Torey Battelle – Associate Director, Research Computing and Quantum Collaboration, Arizona State University

Register here for December’s free, virtual webinar scheduled for Friday, December 5th, 2025 from 1:00 PM – 2:00PM ET.

Dr. Torey Battelle earned her BA in Physics from Middlebury College, and her PhD in Applied Physics from Colorado School of Mines. Dr. Battelle is an Associate Director in Arizona State University’s Research Technology Office, and is instrumental to ASU’s Quantum Collaborative, a collection of universities, industry partners and national laboratories driving the advancement of quantum technologies and workforce development. Recently named Associate Director of Research Computing, she is turning her ‘quantum’ focus to quantum-centric HPC. She leads the Quantum Collaborative’s quantum computing steering committee in several exciting research directions, facilitates quantum technology-related exploration in quantum sensing, communication and networking, and connects with industry and university partners in crucial workforce development efforts. Dr. Battelle is honored and thrilled to join ERN-Q in an overview and discussion of quantum-centric high-performance computing.

For additional information, feel free to contact info@ern.ci.

ERN @ 2025 Internet2 Technology Exchange
2025-12-08 08:00 - 2025-12-12 12:00
Internet2 Technology Exchange is being held December 8-12, 2025 at the Sheraton Denver Downtown, in Denver, CO, and ERN will be participating with a Birds of a Feather.

Presentation

Tuesday, December 9th

Strengthening AI and Quantum Ecosystems Through Federated Access and Workforce Development

Speakers:

Barr von Oehsen, Ph.D., Director, Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center

Forough Ghahramani, Ed. D., Vice President for Research & Innovation NJedge

Maureen Dougherty, Ecosystem for Research Networking

12:10 PM – 1:40 PM Director’s Row H

The BOF will present findings and strategic insights from the Ecosystem for Research Networking (ERN) Summit 2025, a national convening that explored the intersection of AI, Quantum, and workforce development across the research cyberinfrastructure community. The Summit emphasized the urgency of democratizing access to advanced technologies and infrastructure, particularly for non-R1 institutions, and featured perspectives from over 100 participants representing 92 institutions across academia, industry, and government.

Key themes included the role of shared infrastructure, inclusive workforce pipelines, and regional innovation models in shaping AI and Quantum research capacity and collaborations. The BOF will highlight actionable recommendations for institutions, funders, and regional networks, with a focus on supporting smaller campuses through federated access, modular training, and policy engagement.

Quantum Webinar Series - February 20, 2026
2026-02-20 12:00 - 13:00
The Ecosystem for Research Networking and the Northeast Big Data Innovation Hub(NEBDHub) have partnered to host a series of webinars focusing on Quantum Computing. This Dynamic series will convene leading researchers, industry innovators, and educators to explore the evolving frontiers of quantum science and technology. These virtual events are designed for learners, educators, researchers, and professionals. Each interactive session will span topics from foundational principles to cutting edge real-world application, bridging disciplines and sparking discovery.

Building Quantum from the Ground Up: How Regional Universities Can Lead the Quantum Workforce

Quantum science and workforce training are often perceived as the domain of large research universities and national laboratories. In reality, smaller and regional institutions, which educate a significant share of U.S. students, including many first-generation, low-income, and underrepresented learners, play a critical role in expanding access, training talent at scale, and connecting quantum research to regional workforce needs. For these institutions, sustained federal investment is essential to enable quantum programs to take root and scale.

In this talk, I will share how Middle Tennessee State University is building a comprehensive quantum initiative at a regional university by integrating research, education, industry engagement, and workforce development, made possible in large part through critical funding from federal agencies such as the NSF and DOE. I will discuss the structural challenges and resource constraints faced by smaller institutions and the strategies used to overcome them, including a growing portfolio in quantum materials, quantum computing, and AI-enabled quantum science; the launch of interdisciplinary and interinstitutional quantum curricula and student training pathways; and a strategic partnership with Oak Ridge National Laboratory that connects students and faculty to national-scale research and industry-relevant problems.

Together, these efforts position MTSU as a regional hub for quantum education and workforce development, while contributing meaningfully to the Tennessee and national quantum ecosystem. Ultimately, building quantum capacity at regional universities is not about catching up, it is about ensuring that the future of U.S. quantum science is built broadly, wherever talent lives and opportunity can be created.

Dr. Hanna Terletska – Full Professor of Physics at Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU) and the Founding Director of the Quantum Research, Interdisciplinary Science, and Education (QRISE) Center.

Register here for this free, virtual webinar scheduled for Friday, February 20th, 2026 from 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM ET.

Dr. Hanna Terletska’s research background is in computational physics, with a focus on disordered and strongly correlated quantum materials, supported by NSF- and DOE-funded projects. She leads the Middle Tennessee Quantum Consortium, a regional partnership among MTSU, Tennessee State University, Fisk University, Meharry Medical College, and Austin Peay State University, working with national laboratory partners to expand quantum research, education, and workforce training across Tennessee. She also develops interdisciplinary quantum curricula and leads Train-the-Trainer programs to strengthen quantum capacity at emerging research institutions.
