The Practice and Experience in Advanced Research Computing (PEARC) Conference 2024 is fast approaching, and we're thrilled to announce that Matt Smith, Manager of Research Systems for Advanced Research Computing (ARC), will be a plenary speaker at this annual event. In an interview with Matt, we had the opportunity to chat about his enthusiasm for participating as a keynote; the details about his presentation on building a successful research computing workforce; and what makes PEARC such an exceptional conference to attend (including how delicious the pizza will be in Providence, Rhode Island). At UBC IT, it’s always great to celebrate what sets us apart from other institutions and Matt’s animation about presenting at PEARC 2024 exemplifies this experience: “we love what we do, and we love where we work.”
Getting selected as a plenary speaker
When asked about the selection process for becoming a plenary speaker for PEARC 2024, Matt was humble in his response, saying that when he received the email from the event organizers, he “didn’t believe the request at first and thought that they must have the wrong Matt Smith.” But surely enough, they got the right guy. Humbleness aside, Matt is a very active participant in the advanced research computing community. Beginning as the first manager of the Systems Team of Advanced Research Computing (ARC) at UBC in 2019, he has led a diverse group of individuals to establish UBC as a leader in the research computing space. For example, UBC became the first university in North America to offer a self-service web-based platform for high performance computing (HPC) in the commercial cloud. It’s been so successful that other universities now use UBC as a benchmark and seek our advice.
Outside of work, Matt doesn’t slow down when it comes to his love for advanced research computing. He is currently the Co-chair of the People Network’s Systems-Facing track for the Campus Research Computing Consortium (CaRCC). The network aims to build a community for professionals who support research computing and data (RCD) and the researchers who use these resources. Matt described the work as a “grassroots knowledge exchange”. In his role, he helps put on monthly talks that feature guest presenters and panel discussions. These talks relate to the implementation and support of research computing and data systems with a wide range of in-demand topics such as trending technologies. Through email lists, Slack channels, and monthly calls, Matt devotes a lot of his spare time to fostering collaboration and knowledge sharing among CaRCC’s members.
Saying that Matt loves what he does is an understatement. While he might have been shocked that he was selected as a plenary speaker, it is easy to see how his devotion to the advanced research computing community has garnered the attention of the conference committee and cemented his position as a keynote speaker this year.
Harnessing UBC’s collaborative spirit
Given Matt's passion for community-building, it’s not a surprise that his keynote will focus on creating an effective and collaborative research computing team. He will discuss his experiences at UBC—including his transition to Advanced Research Computing (ARC)—and his leadership style that supports a dynamic, positive workforce. Matt highlighted the importance of a supportive team and a balanced approach to work and home life stating that he “strives to strike a balance of holding ourselves to a very high standard of performance and skill without getting to a point of burn out.” In his keynote, he plans to talk about building a team: what has worked, what has failed, where he gets inspiration, and how he approaches talent requisition.
He will also attempt to apply a Canadian post-secondary perspective on his presentation. In discussing his time at UBC he highlighted how he thinks our institution truly embodies the slogan: It’s Yours. “As corny as it sounds, our slogan truly represents our ethos at UBC. It encourages us to have a sense of ownership in the work we do, it’s empowering.” Matt aims to share this outlook with a predominantly US-centric conference audience and is curious to see how the Canadian approach to team building compares.
Why is PEARC so great?
Matt will be the first person to tell you why PEARC is such an amazing conference. Having attended this conference three times, he touts how diverse the student and faculty attendance can be, stating that “the cool thing about PEARC is that there is no strict dichotomy separating scientific, support or teaching roles. Everyone is learning from each other”. Matt also praised PEARC for their robust student program that provides an extra day for students and mentors to connect. This year he has been selected as a mentor and is excited to connect with future innovators in advanced research computing.
When asked what else he will be enjoying on his trip: he said, “the pizza, it’ll hopefully be some of the best I’ve ever had.” Here’s to enjoying a great slice and engaging conversations about advanced research computing.
To learn more about this conference, visit the PEARC 2024 website and check out Matt Smith’s plenary speaker bio.
