ATLANTA, GA /BDPA Atlanta/ — Established in 1975 as Black Data Processing Associates, BDPA continues to promote technical career alignments within our industrial base through its series of outreach programs and digital workforce transformation initiatives.

This week (17-22 NOV 24), BDPA executives and BDPA Members attended the International Conference for High-Performance Computing (HPC) as the Association nears its 50-year milestone. SC24, short for the International Conference for HPC, Networking, Storage, and Analysis, brings together thousands of experts every year from around the world to share their latest innovations and ideas.  National BDPA’s Atlanta Chapter served as the Association’s Host Chapter for SC24 and BDPACON24, this year. BDPA Executives, Student IT Education & Scholarship (SITES) alumni, and BDPA Student Members have attended SC Conferences with Industry mission partners since SC06.

What is HPC? 
High-performance computing (HPC) involves using powerful computers to rapidly solve complex computing problems that are too challenging for regular computers. Predicting weather, simulating human brains, or designing new drugs—these activities require massive computing power, which HPC provides by interconnecting several computers in a cluster to work as one, optimizing data sharing.

Highlights of SC24

1. Innovative Exhibits: BDPA mission partners such as Google, HPE, IBM, Microsoft, NASA, NSA, and Samsung, shared upcoming career requirements and showcased their latest technologies. BDPA Members, local area students, and conference attendees explored leading-edge hardware and software currently pushing the boundaries of what’s possible in computing, data science, aerospace, defense, energy, medicine, and transportation.
   
2. SC24 Tours
   Student groups had a very special opportunity to attend an annual international conference free of charge and explore our rapidly intensifying technical world of high-performance computing (HPC). SC24 provided a great opportunity to learn from subject matter experts (SMEs) and discover how they may contribute to our exciting fields of HPC!

Student tours were an in-person event at the Georgia World Congress Center (GWCC) open to local high school to college-level student groups in or near Atlanta. Students explored cutting-edge technologies and met with vendors, universities, laboratories, and future employers on the exhibit floor, getting an introduction to high-performance computing while absorbing this year’s SC Conference vibe. Student tours lasted approximately two hours and were offered once in the morning and the other in the afternoon.

3. Engaging Tech & Career Talks: Thought leaders and experts were giving talks on various topics, from artificial intelligence (Ai) to climate modeling. Several sessions were designed to inspire and educate both newcomers and veterans in our field.
   
4. Professional Networking Opportunities: SC24 was not only about the latest in technology, it also was about the people across our industry making “IT” happen, BDPA Members, and BDPA SITES alumni. SC24 provided numerous opportunities for everyone to meet, collaborate on future projects, and discuss upcoming golden anniversary events

Whether you are new to BDPA as a sponsor or mission partner, a member of a local BDPA chapter, a tech enthusiast, or just curious about the future of computing and data science, next year in St. Louis, MO, SC25 will offer a deeper glimpse into the expanding worlds of Big Data and Predictive Analytics (B.D.P.A.), HPC, and Quantum Computing, along with our community’s potential to solve some of Industry’s most complex technical challenges.

For the Association’s upcoming Golden Anniversary year in 2025, National BDPA’s Host Chapter for SC25 is BDPA St. Louis.  For BDPACON25, BDPA Atlanta is National BDPA’s Host Chapter. Join or renew today by visiting bdpa.org—#BDPA50.

^{— Sources: SC24, BDPATM, and BDPA Atlanta}

Cover photo: SC24 — BDPA photos: ©2024 bdpatoday®

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