While it’s impossible to predict how this fall semester will go, PICS has put together a full roster of virtual events to get us through the semester. Below is just some of what we will be offering. Katie will be sending out more information, including the Zoom details, for each of these events. We hope to see you there!
Alumni Spotlight
The PICS Alumni Spotlight is an opportunity for current students to talk and network with alumni. These talks begin with the speaker discussing their education and career paths and then answering questions from students.
Ololade Fatunmbi, PhD August 5, 12:00 – 1:00 Ololade Fatunmbi, PhD is a program scientist/scientist consultant for the U.S. Department of Defense. In her role she provides scientific expertise in biophysics, data analytics, and programmatic guidance, in advancing the Department of Defense’s (DoD) basic research portfolio.
Amit Shavit, PhD August 26, 12:00 – 1:00 Amit Shavit is a Principal Data Scientist at Fidelity Investments, where he focuses on time series forecasting methods using machine learning techniques.
Whelton Miller, PhD October 21, 12:00 – 1:00 Whelton Miller, PhD is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Medicine, Health Sciences Division at Loyola University, Chicago.
Workshops
PICS hosts several workshops throughout the year. Students enrolled in the PICS Certificate have priority registration for all PICS hosted workshops. In addition to the two workshops listed below, we are also finalizing details for two workshops on MATLAB
C++ October 17, 10:- 4:30 Taught by Adam Mally, This one day workshop will teach students the basic skills needed to program in C++. We ask that anyone who attends has at least one year of prior programming experience in any language.
Python November 7, 10:00 – 3:30 Taught by Adam Mally, This course is designed to be an introduction to programming in Python. In this workshop you will learn to write clean, readable, and fast Python code with a focus on graphics-based programming.
Student Seminars
This is a new series PICS is offering to encourage collaboration and discussion between PICS members in different groups. This is also a good opportunity to practice public speaking and presenting your research. Reach out to Katie if you would like to sign up to host a future seminar.
Nathan Frey and Kaushik Shanker August 12 12:00 – 1:00
Nathan Frey is a 4th year PhD Candidate in MSE in Vivek Shenoy’s group. His talk is titled: “Machine Learning in the Physical Sciences.”Kaushik Shanker is a rising 3rd year PhD in CBE and is co-advised by Scott Diamond and Talid Sinno. His talk is titled, “Multiscale Modeling of Platelet Aggregation.”
Colloquium
We are currently accepting nominations for speakers and we are planning to host seven to eight speakers during the fall semester. All talks take place Fridays from 2:00 – 3:00 pm.
PICS Certificate
The Certificate of Advanced Scientific Computing is open to all MSE and PhD students currently enrolled at the University of Pennsylvania, you can sign up at any time. The Certificate can be completed in 1 year and all courses can count towards other majors and degree requirements. PICS Certificate students receive priority enrollment for PICS workshops, and are invited to all PICS events. Enrolled students will develop unique skills at the nexus of high-performance scientific computing, data science, physical science and engineering. They will become equipped to solve the complex scientific and technological problems that carry societal impact through theory and computing and will earn a Certificate of Advanced Scientific Computing which will appear on the student’s official Penn transcript.
Computational Science funding, jobs and other opportunities
The PICS website hosts a job board with information on funding, grants and jobs. The page is updated several times a week, so be sure to check back frequently.
We are always interested in hearing from our PICS students. If there is a speaker, workshop, or other event you would be interested in PICS hosting, please do not hesitate to reach out to Katie Thompson at kathom@seas.upenn.edu