Super(computing)heroes

Members of under-represented groups often lack the availability of role models from within their minority. The HPC community is still predominantly white and male, making it challenging for young women to find female 'superheroes' with whom they can identify. Such role models are crucial for discussing topics like career planning and receiving advice. With this session, we aim to provide women the opportunity to meet such female HPC 'superheroes' from both academia and industry. These influential women are often well-recognized members of the community, for example, former invited or keynote speakers at ISC or SC conferences, PRACE Ada Lovelace award recipients, and/or holding key roles at their institutions. This BoF session will be organized in an open, highly interactive format, similar to a Fishbowl or Lyceum discussion, where the featured 'heroes' on stage will rotate throughout the session and answer questions from the audience. While we particularly encourage early-career colleagues to attend, everyone is welcome. The audience will have the opportunity to influence who comes next on stage. Examples of questions for the experts on stage, mainly experienced female members of the HPC community, could include inquiries about their unique HPC skills ('superpowers'), which other 'superheroes' they have admired in their careers, and career advice they would offer to future generations. Speakers will be asked to provide short, concise answers to enable a lively discussion.

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Contributors:

• Anna Lührs