The Eric Pitman Annual Summer Workshop in Computational Science

Eric Pitman.

This week long workshop is held annually in honor of Eric Pitman, who was a freshman at St. Joseph's Collegiate Institute when he passed away on February 27, 2007 after a brief illness. A Science Olympiad participant at St. Gregory the Great Elementary School, Eric was an avid reader, a young man who enjoyed learning new things and challenging his thinking about the world and his place within it.

One of his teachers spoke of Eric by saying: "It seemed that he always did the right thing, and always stood by what he knew was morally and ethically correct. He was a tremendous leader, a silent leader who led by example and not by talk."

It is with Eric's sense of wonderment and inquisitiveness in mind that the workshop strives to introduce students into the application of computer modeling and simulation to solve important problems in science and engineering.   In the past, workshop topics have included computational chemistry and visualization.  The current year's workshop focuses on bioinformatics and research in the life sciences. 
 

Summer 2024 Workshop

Dates:  June 27 - July 3, 2024

Times: 9:30am - 3:30pm daily

Students MUST be able to commit to attend each day of the workshop. 

Cost:  There is no cost to participate in the workshop and lunch is provided daily. 

Location:
University at Buffalo - Center for Computational Research
701 Ellicott St, Buffalo, NY 14203

Topics:  Bioinformatics, genome sequencing, high performance computing

Participating students will have hands-on experience sequencing bacterial DNA from local water samples, and performing bioinformatic data analysis using computer programming and AI.  Students will also spend time talking with computer science and data professionals and touring locations on the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus.

Schedule: Coming soon
 

More Info & Application:

The workshop is open to students who have completed the first year of high school, taken a year of high school algebra, and have taken at least one high school science course - Biology, Chemistry or Physics.  Students do not need a background in computing but they do need a good foundation in math and science and a willingness to learn some computing.

Students MUST be able to commit to attend each day of the workshop.  There is no cost to participate in the workshop and lunch is provided daily. 

Workshop application deadline is May 24, 2024.  Applications are now closed!  Check back in March 2025 for next summer's workshop.

Additional Workshop Information