Welcome!!!

Thank you all so much for choosing our scientific computing course, which was started in conjunction with Brookhaven National Laboratory. We are so happy you're here!!! This first module will help you get acquainted with our course, understand what the purpose of the course is, and meet your course instructors who will be here to help you along the way! Let's get into it!!! :) 

What is scientific computing?

Intro / Welcome to the course

Watch this quick video to find out about the logistics of this course! This video essentially just walks through all the information listed below :) 

What You'll Need  

To Get Started :

• • Eagerness to Learn New Skills

  • Computer with Internet Access  (to make coding easier, it's best to use a laptop, not a phone or ipad)

  • Free Google Account (so we can login with Google Colab later!)

  • Often students find using a 2nd monitor can be helpful, but definitely not required as this course can be completed from one screen. 

Course logistics

• The Course is designed for delivery as interactive modules of 2-4 hours duration each

• Each module site includes several slides or short videos to learn content . 

• You will also practice coding questions using Trinket windows embedded within each module. 

• To assess your comprehension of the module material, you will complete short auto-graded quizzes.

• Each week, you will join 1-2 live Zoom sessions where we will go over the material for the upcoming week, work on a live practice coding problem together, and answer any questions you may have! 

•  At the completion of each module, you will use Google Colab as your workspace to practice writing code and you will turn in your link to Colab workbook via a form at the last section of each module. The first 6 min of this video provide a good introduction to Colab. 

• You can view the scheduled calendar as a suggestion for module timing, but feel free to go at your own pace! 

  • 1. • Always updated on the Schedule tab!

Coding trouble?

We understand this is an asynchronous class and want to offer as many options to help you as possible: 

1. Ask questions during our live sessions each week! 

2. Email SciComp@engineeringtomorrow.org  for any specific questions you have and one of our mentors respond

3. Rewatch videos/ redo examples

4. Use ChatGPT or another LLM to guide you through errors and help make sense of where to go next with your code. Do not ask for the answers. This will not help your learning and will show in your coding. 

AI in this Course

Looking Forward (End Projects): 

• The goal of this course is to boost your research skills by teaching you some useful Python commands and coding structure. The culmination of the course is a short final project that will help you to practice these new coding skills using data on a topic that interests you. 

• As a brief overview of what your final project will look like, you will:

1. Pick a topic that interests you

2. Find a dataset having to do with that topic

3. Use coding to extract information for your dataset that will allow you to draw conclusions

4. Code plots in order to visually show your conclusions

5. Present your project via a presentation

• Don't worry if you are new to coding, as mentioned we will give you the skillset that allows you to complete this project.

• Additionally, this project is meant for you to combine your skills and interests, so use your creativity!