Technical Assistant Report: ACM Europe Summer School on HPC Computer Architectures for AI & Dedicated Applications 2025

I had the great honor of joining the ACM Europe Summer School on HPC Architectures for AI and Dedicated Applications in Barcelona—for the third consecutive year—this time not only as a learner, but also as a Teaching Assistant (TA). Being part of both the learning and support teams gave me a unique perspective on how robust and inclusive global HPC education can be. Helping orchestrate an exceptional educational experience that achieved the highest satisfaction rating in the school's history—6.53 out of 7 made me proud.

As a mid-career researcher, I have been struggling to bring Thai student teams to win the international HPC benchmarking competition, despite not achieving success since 2018. However, being accepted to attend the first EU-ASEAN HPC Virtual School filled my technical gaps, allowing me to bring the only Thai team to win the joint Third Place trophy alongside renowned universities from Taiwan and Singapore.  Four years and attending four HPC schools, two of which are sponsored by the ACM, I was able to train my students to achieve another Third Place with the Best HPC Performance Award, a Merit Place, and a Second Place with the Best Presentation Award from the APAC HPC-AI Competition and a Third Place from the 12^th International Student RDMA Competition. My empty office is now full of trophies, certificates of excellence, and records of attendance from the past six HPC schools I have attended. 95% of the students confirmed that they gained a career advantage from their experience in the HPC benchmarking competition. With this tangible evidence, I was able to secure competitive funding from Thailand's National Research Council to run a project called HPC Ignite, aiming to introduce HPC skills to 300 people in Northern Thailand and establish the HPC training ecosystem.

Attending summer school, especially in Europe, without sponsorship would not be possible for me. However, in 2023 and 2024, I was fortunate to receive sponsorship from a generous donor, Mr Boonchoo Treethong, the former Minister of Higher Education in Thailand in 1992, who devoted his beliefs in democratizing quality education. With his support and that of some other donors, I was able to attend the ACM Europe Summer School twice and bring two students to experience the school with me.  In 2025, I was honored to be sponsored by the ACM and by the Barcelona Supercomputing Center to serve as a Technical Assistant in two ACM HPC Schools in Singapore and Barcelona.

This transformation embodies the profound impact of ACM's investment in global HPC education. What began as one week of intensive training has cascaded into opportunities affecting more than 55 Thai students, 60 Indonesian students, and 364 participants from Northern Thailand who were trained in the HPC skills in my research. New experiences in witnessing the behind-the-scenes process help me fill in more gaps and connect more dots in the new normal, aiming to upskill and reskill researchers with HPC skills.

Behind the Excellence: The Art of Invisible Orchestration

Working alongside the organizing team—Co-Directors Fabrizio Gagliardi and Antonio Rubio, with Tamara Kovazh and Yaroslava Trubenok—I witnessed the meticulous coordination required to support 60 students from 27 nationalities. Our four-person TA team (Renebeth, Regina, Andria, and myself) became the bridge between world-class knowledge and eager learners.

The dual-channel communication strategy revealed the intensity of our work. While students saw organized announcements on Slack, our WhatsApp channel buzzed with real-time crisis management. When Tamara messaged late in the evening about dinner boxes, or when Yaroslava tracked down a lost wallet within minutes, these seemingly small acts of care created the foundation for learning. Antonio Rubio's attention to detail—from weather warnings to ensuring proper room access—demonstrated how excellence emerges from countless invisible decisions.

What struck me most was the trust placed in us TAs. We weren't just executing tasks; we participated in selecting students from 207 applications, made real-time decisions about technical solutions, and shaped the educational experience. This empowerment model, championed by our organizers, transformed us from assistants into educators.

When Preparation Meets Opportunity

The defining moment came during Josep Lluís Berral's distributed computing session. Multiple students encountered SSH connection failures to the UniBo servers—a critical blockage that could have derailed the entire hands-on experience. Within minutes, I deployed the web-based terminal from my HPC Ignite project (https://leap.hpc-ignite.org), providing seamless alternative access to some students.

This wasn't luck; it was a preparation meeting opportunity. In the HPC Ignite project, web-based terminals have been created to allow participants in areas with unstable electricity and those without a computer at home to learn and practice. It was one of the recurring barriers students faced in accessing HPC resources. The web training ecosystem is still improving to smooth the learning curve for the target participants, which has increased to 364 users across four provinces in Northern Thailand. This tool demonstrates how ACM's educational initiatives spark innovations that address real-world challenges.

The fact that a solution developed in rural Thailand could help overcome some issues from the training in Barcelona exemplifies the global nature of HPC challenges and the power of diverse perspectives in solving them.

Learning from Master Educators

Working with this exceptional organizing team taught me invaluable lessons about educational excellence. Tamara's meticulous planning ensured that, despite serving students from 27 nationalities with diverse dietary needs, technical backgrounds, and cultural expectations, everyone felt welcomed and supported. Her ability to anticipate problems—evidenced by backup plans for everything from catering to technical failures—set a gold standard for event management.

Yaroslava, despite this being her first ACM School experience, brought fresh energy and innovative solutions with her talent in six languages and international working experiences. Her proactive approach to problem-solving and genuine care for participant welfare proved that excellence isn't about experience alone—it's about dedication to student success.

Antonio Rubio's academic leadership in the selection process ensured we maintained high standards while promoting diversity. His involvement in evaluating all 207 applications alongside us TAs demonstrated how senior academics can mentor while respecting emerging educators' perspectives.

Critical Insights and Recommendations

The school's exceptional metrics—95% completion rate and 35% female participation (up from 20-30% in previous years)—didn't happen by accident. They resulted from deliberate choices and continuous refinement. Based on this experience, I offer several recommendations:

Foster Peer Learning and Training Networks

Some of our most valuable resources came from students themselves. When I created GitHub repositories consolidating commands, I received help from lecturers who asked for permission to use the repositories and summarized diagrams I had made for their future training. We see that when students solved each other's problems on Slack, they created resources more accessible than official documentation. ACM should formalize and promote such peer contributions.

A Personal Reflection on Global Community

Eight years into my ACM membership, serving as a TA deepened my appreciation for the organization's vision. When Professor Gagliardi describes us as "housekeepers," ensuring that excellent lecturers can share knowledge with exceptional students, I understand we're not just organizing events—we're nurturing a global community.  Based on my experience, the ACM Schools WhatsApp group is still active despite many years passing. The community was formed around shared goals and should be supported in some way.

Looking Forward: Sustaining Excellence

As I hear the plan for more ACM schools, I am committed to ensuring that future students experience the same transformative opportunities. The infrastructure we've built—from technical solutions like web terminals, Slack, GitHub, to human networks during leisure time spanning continents—provides a foundation for continued excellence.

I believe the message from Fab, "We are the best team in the world 😍," brought a big smile to everyone on the crew team the night before we traveled back home. It was not just post-event euphoria. It reflected genuine bonds forged through shared purpose. When Tamara, Antonio, Yaroslava, and our TA team worked seamlessly to overcome every challenge, we demonstrated that excellence in education requires both technical expertise and human dedication.

In my opinion, ACM's investment in summer schools delivers benefits beyond money, which is why I am proud to continue being a member of the ACM and will encourage my students to be so.  When one school can transform a rural Thai researcher into someone who spends her last decade working as an educator, influencing hundreds, driving institutional curriculum reform, and inspiring innovations to solve real-world problems, we must recognize the multiplying effect of a week-long, informal upskilling training in the form of Summer School. As ACM continues to invest in these transformative experiences, many students will not only learn to teach HPC skills but also build a global network of educators and innovators who do not let geographical or resource constraints limit their impact.