The Middleware and Grid Interagency Coordination Team (MAGIC), a public-private team, composed of experts from academia, industry, and government, under NITRD’s Large Scale Networking Interagency Working Group, meets monthly to discuss current and future technologies and collaboration activities in distributed computing. See https://www.nitrd.gov/coordination-areas/lsn/magic/ for more information on MAGIC.
Between September and December 2020, MAGIC, then led by federal co-chairs, Richard Carlson, Office of Science, Department of Energy; and Tevfik Kosar, Office of Advanced Cyberinfrastructure, National Science Foundation, conducted a series of public meetings to examine workforce development.
On September 2, 2020, MAGIC began the series with an overview of the issue of workforce development.
- Workforce Development: Success is in the Numbers, Linda Hayden, Professor of Computer Science, Center of Excellence in Remote Sensing Education and Research, Elizabeth City State University
- Mekisha Marshall, Chief Science & Technology Advisor/General Engineer, National Maritime Intelligence-Integration Office, National Intelligence Manager-Maritime, Office of the Director of National Intelligence
- Case Studies of Research Software Development & Management in Universities, Dan Katz, Assistant Director for Scientific Software and Applications at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications and Research Associate Professor CS, ECE, and the School at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
On October 7, 2020, MAGIC hosted presentations on the topic of diversity and inclusion in workforce development.
- Campus Cyberinfrastructure (CC*) Overview, Kevin Thompson, Program Director, Office of Advanced Cyberinfrastructure OAC, National Science Foundation
- Campus Cyberinfrastructure Experience, Jason Arviso, Vice President of Operations for the Navajo Technical University
- Campus Cyberinfrastructure Experience, Damian Clarke, Chief Technology Officer, Alabama A&M University
On November 4, 2020, MAGIC explored the industry perspective of workforce development.
- Microsoft Datacenter Academy, Anthony Putorek, Senior Workforce Development Program Manager, Microsoft Datacenter Academy
- Southside Virginia Community College, Dr. Chad Patton, Dean of Career and Occupational Technology, Southside Virginia Community College
- Microsoft Leap Apprentice Program, Yolanda Natal Santos, Sr. Business Program Manager, Microsoft Leap Apprenticeship Program
- LinkedIn Learning, Kristine Martinez, Government Relations Manager, LinkedIn
On December 2, 2020, MAGIC focused the discussion on Diversity & Inclusion in Scientific Domains.
- Workforce: Programs & Opportunities, Valerie Taylor, Division Director of the Mathematics and Computer Science Division, Argonne National Laboratory
- Sustainable Horizons Institute, Damian Rouson, Better Scientific Software Fellow, Sustainable Horizons Institute
- Google Career Certificates, Bronaugh Friel, Program Lead, Grow with Google
MAGIC holds public meetings on the first Wednesday of each month (12-2 pm ET). If you would like more information on MAGIC’s activities, please contact NCO at nco@nitrd.gov.