ACM’s Special Interest Group on High Performance Computing (SIGHPC), in collaboration with Intel, awards 12 world-class students from under-represented groups in computing with the ACM SIGHPC/Intel Computational and Data Science Fellowships. The fellowship is funded by Intel, and is presented each year at the annual SC conference.
It was established to increase the diversity of students pursuing graduate degrees in data science and computational science, including women as well as students from racial/ethnic backgrounds that have been historically underrepresented in the computing field. The fellowship provides $15,000 annually for study anywhere in the world.
Students were nominated by their graduate advisors. Nominees spanned disciplines from finance and robotics to managing personal health data, and represented large, mid-sized, and small institutions in 25 countries. 80% of nominees were female, and 40% were identified as an underrepresented minority in their country of study.
The nominations were evaluated and ranked by a panel of experts (who were themselves diverse with respect to race, gender, discipline, and nationality) based on nominees’ overall potential for excellence in data science and/or computational science, and the extent to which they will serve as leaders and role models to increase diversity in the workplace.
Of the 12 students named as winners for SC17, nine are women and six are underrepresented minorities in their country of study. They are pursuing MS and PhD degrees in a variety of applied fields:
• Kellon Belfon, PhD candidate, Stony Brook University
• Linda Gesenhues, PhD candidate, Fed. Univ. of Rio de Janeiro
• Ananya Gupta, PhD candidate, University of Manchester
• Maciej Kos, PhD Candidate, Northeastern University
• Jessica Micallef, PhD Candidate, Michigan State University
• Shannon Moran, PhD candidate, University of Michigan
• Santiago Núñez-Corrales, PhD candidate, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
• Laura Palacio Tamayo, MS candidate, University of Medellín
• Minu Pilvankar, PhD candidate, Oklahoma State University
• Shefali Umrania, MS candidate, Carnegie Mellon University
• Valeri Vasquez, PhD candidate, University of California, Berkeley
• Emma Zohner, PhD candidate, Rice University
Funding will be awarded in August. The winners will receive travel support to attend SC Conference, where they will be recognized during the awards ceremony. They will also receive a complimentary membership in SIGHPC for the duration of their fellowship.
About the ACM SIGHPC/Intel Computational and Data Science Fellowship
The fellowship was established to increase the diversity of students pursuing graduate degrees in data science and computational science, including women as well as students from racial/ethnic backgrounds that have not traditionally participated in the computing field. The program supports students pursuing Master’s, PhD, or equivalent degrees at institutions anywhere in the world and who have completed less than half of their planned program of study. Fellowships are renewable for up to five years. Find more information at sighpc.org/fellowships.
About SIGHPC
The ACM Special Interest Group on HPC is the first international group within a major professional society that is devoted exclusively to the needs of students, faculty, and practitioners in high performance computing. SIGHPC’s mission is to help spread the use of HPC, help raise the standards of the profession, and help ensure a rich and rewarding career for people involved in the field. Find out more at www.sighpc.org/about.
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For more information, e-mail: communications@sighpc.org
