Interns Telling Stories: Chapter 2

Fishing for ARC innovations with Brock Palen

By Yu-Jin Choi - ITS Marketing Communications intern

Brock Palen and the Advanced Research Computing (ARC) team became superheroes during the COVID-19 pandemic. When researchers studying fish species couldn’t deploy their usual group of undergraduates to do river observations, it became all about the data they already collected.?

"Michigan's highly diverse research community presents challenges,” Palen, the director of ARC, said. “But it also allows us to apply shared techniques across different fields, fostering collaboration."?

Through those collaborative efforts, ARC and researchers embarked on reverse-engineering the data format and training a computer vision model to identify and understand fish from images. This solution not only allows them to collect more data over time, but also at a reduced cost.?

These are the kinds of innovative solutions that Palen has been tinkering with since he was an undergraduate at the University of Michigan. Since then, he has immersed himself in the field of computing, witnessing remarkable advancements while fueling his enthusiasm for supporting researchers and their work.

"I've been doing high-performance computing since I was 19,” Palen said. “It's fun to geek out on what the users are doing."?

Palen is dedicated to empowering the research community with the computational resources needed to tackle the most challenging problems of our time. As the director of ARC, he supports researchers at U-M, enabling groundbreaking discoveries and fostering collaboration.?

Keeping the servers up and ready for use is crucial because of how much data the university maintains and handles.?

"ARC is a relatively small organization, but we handle a significant portion of the university's data center usage,” Palen said. “We download petabytes of data in a month, which some IT departments do in a year.”

The dynamic nature of research at U-M provides both challenges and opportunities. The ARC team stays adaptable and flexible, leveraging shared techniques across various research areas to promote collaboration and innovation.

By concentrating on the diverse research community at U-M, the ARC team can better understand and meet the specific needs of their users, whether it's researchers looking into black holes, unwrapping genomics, or finite element analysis.?

–Yu-Jin Choi is a bright and driven rising senior at the University of Michigan. Currently studying Communication and Media along with Entrepreneurship, she is genuinely passionate about the realm of social media and digital marketing. Yu-Jin’s creative prowess shines through in her work, making her a valuable asset in any project she takes on. With her dedication and love for all things innovative, she is poised to make a lasting impact in the world of communication.

Unlocking Seamless Connectivity on U-M's WiFi Networks

By Yu-Jin Choi - ITS Marketing Communications intern

Imagine arriving at the University of Michigan campus, eager to embark on a new academic journey, only to find yourself disconnected from the optimal WiFi experience. That's precisely what happened to my friend when she transferred to U-M last fall.?

Unaware of the existence of MWireless, she relied on MGuest throughout the entire semester. It wasn't until I enlightened her about the benefits of MWireless that she realized the untapped potential of U-M's WiFi networks. Now it’s your turn to learn! So, let's dive in and unlock seamless connectivity on the UM-Ann Arbor and UM-Dearborn campuses.

U-M's WiFi Network Options:

• MWireless, a preferred, secure, encrypted U-M WiFi network for students, faculty, sponsored affiliates, and staff.
• MSetup, a simple way to get connected to the U-M WiFi network.
• eduroam, a secure, encrypted WiFi network that provides WiFi access at the participating institutions across the world to U-M students, faculty, and staff.
• MGuest, a WiFi network service that provides basic internet access to the university guests. This network is not secure, and it has both capacity and access to the university resources limitations.

In case you encounter any connectivity challenges, U-M provides a handy list of Common WiFi Troubleshooting Tips. This resource offers practical solutions to the most common issues faced.