Jim Ferguson

Director of Outreach & Training for Research Computing at University of Minnesota

Exploring the Landscape of Midwest Research Computing and Data Consortium

This is a series where we’re diving into the world of the Midwest Research Computing and Data Consortium, exploring its members, the challenges, and future prospects. We had the opportunity to speak with Jim Ferguson, Director of Outreach & Training for Research Computing at University of Minnesota, who shared his insights on the field. Edited excerpts below:

About MSI and his role

I oversee the User Gateway Group and the training/outreach efforts for various entities under research computing. These include the Minnesota Supercomputing Institute (MSI), U-Spatial, and the upcoming Data Science Institute. The day-to-day responsibilities vary, ranging from organizing tutorials for MSI users, coordinating with other teams to ensure seamless event execution, as well as managing outward-facing information, such as documentation, website content etc. The upcoming addition of a new Data Science Institute will add to the larger research computing umbrella, which already includes U-Spatial, an organization that has a more specific GIS-related research focus. So, outreach and training for these different entities, which means that our team is effectively an outlet offering a variety of training and outreach services to the different organizations under research computing.

Challenges in Research Computing

I feel that a significant challenge in the field of research computing lately are the decreasing number of students arriving with command-line skills. To address this, MSI and The Carpentries at UMN offer LINUX workshops, and have developed browsed-based interactive access tools such as OSC’s OpenOnDemand. This approach allows users to perform high-performance computing tasks without needing extensive command-line knowledge.

It is also important to maintain a personal touch in outreach efforts. Our team have been making regular visits to the University of Minnesota Duluth campus to deliver workshops and directly consult with users. Despite the challenges of distance and timing, we are committed to maintaining contact with the researchers at our satellite campuses.

Communication Strategies in Research Computing

In response to changes in the research landscape and technological advancements, we have embraced the need to evolve and adapt our communication strategies. A few low-effort approaches use various social media platforms to promote articles, tutorials, and other important user-facing information. When the staff time is available to do video, editing recorded tutorials and producing training short features all help in the training effort. Like others, we have a YouTube channel to help show and organize these efforts.

What does it take?

On the technical side, the importance of command-line skills and the ability to adapt to changes in the research landscape and technological advancements should not be underestimated. From a personal perspective, anyone entering the field of research computing should try to engage with their peers and mentors. I also encourage others, and I’m sure this happens everywhere, to interact with their undergraduate students, share their experiences, and break the ice. This sort of approach fosters a more open and collaborative learning environment.