Pawsey at the 2019 Festival of Learning – ResBaz

Pawsey Supercomputing Centre attended Perth ResBaz 2019, hosting three training sessions at this ‘un-conference’ festival of learning, hosted by Curtin University.

This year, Pawsey had four representatives attend. Anne Backhaus, Education and Training Manager, Luke Edwards, Data Specialist, and Supercomputing Applications Specialists Brian Skjerven and Marco De La Pierre, all delivered successful training sessions on containers, the Nimbus cloud service and how to teach.

Pawsey’s Trainings

Brain and Marco presented a more complex topic on containers at this traditionally introductory-level event. With a small yet engage audience, Brain and Marco lead a three-hour training session on Docker software and containers. In this age of science, more is expected of researchers. Our presenters commented on the relevance of this more advanced training at ResBaz, as the baseline knowledge of researchers has become more in-depth and sophisticated. Attended by many Bioinformaticians, this presentation also signifies a shift in how this technology is facilitated and by whom, as Docker software and containers are being increasingly used in applied data science and machine learning.

Pawsey’s second training, Introduction to Nimbus, was a ‘crash-course’ to Pawsey’s cloud network presented by Luke. In a short 45-minute presentation, Luke explained and demonstrated how Nimbus works and its capabilities. Nimbus wasn’t only a topic covered in this training, but an infrastructure used to support other trainings, including Brian and Marco’s and a two-day training course hosted by the University of Western Australia (UWA). The training was undoubtedly a success with more people attending than registering. As a result, Pawsey’s forged many new connections with potential users.

Anne’s interactive How to Teach workshop centred around the REAL (relevant engagement authentic learning-centric) model. This model focusses on content and the process of teaching. The audience participated in structured and unstructured group activities, realising the process and realities of education for students.

The Bazaar

Described as an ‘un-conference’, our researchers enjoyed the casual and open vibe of the event, reconnecting with old colleagues and acquaintances. They networked with both early-career and established researchers as potential users, promoting the Pawsey Centre and its services.

The annual Research Bazaar (ResBaz) fosters a spirit of collaboration and community within the innovation and science industry. Researchers come together to share ideas, knowledge and skills in a fun and hands-on environment. Originating at the University of Melbourne, Resbaz has grown to an international festival that educates and promotes digital literacy in modern science.

Anne, Luke, Marco and Brian, all enjoyed Resbaz 2018 and hope to be involved again in next years event, to be held in Sydney.