EPICURE Hackathon · October 2024

The EPICURE Hackathon, held from October 28–31, 2024, brought together developers, researchers, and enthusiasts from across Europe to dive deep into the world of GPU programming and high-performance computing (HPC). Hosted in collaboration with CINECA, one of the continent’s leading HPC centers, the event mixed theoretical sessions with hands-on labs so every participant could apply CUDA, OpenACC, and optimization concepts immediately.

Day 1 · Getting Started with GPU Computing

The opening day focused on foundations—GPU architecture, parallelism, and NVIDIA’s CUDA platform—paired with profiling introductions in Nsight.

Agenda

• 09:00 – 09:15 · Welcome and registration
• 09:15 – 09:30 · EPICURE HPC application support for EuroHPC users
• 09:30 – 10:30 · Introduction to GPU computing
• 10:30 – 11:00 · Coffee break
• 11:00 – 12:30 · Introduction to CUDA
• 12:30 – 14:00 · Lunch
• 14:00 – 15:30 · OpenACC programming and profiling with Nsight
• 15:30 – 16:00 · Coffee break
• 16:00 – 17:30 · OpenACC programming and profiling with Nsight

Day 2 · Advanced GPU Optimization and Profiling

Day 2 raised the bar with advanced optimization strategies and deeper profiling sessions. The afternoon lab let me apply the methods directly on real codebases.

• 09:00 – 10:30 · Advanced GPU optimization and profiling
• 10:30 – 11:00 · Coffee break
• 11:00 – 12:30 · Advanced GPU optimization and profiling (continued)
• 12:30 – 14:00 · Lunch
• 14:00 – 17:30 · Lab session (with our own code or sample projects)

Days 3–4 · Intensive Lab Immersion

The final two days were dedicated entirely to labs. With mentors on hand, we iterated on GPU projects, debugged kernels, and compared performance metrics using Nsight and other tools.

• October 30: Morning lab session · Afternoon lab session
• October 31: Morning lab session · Afternoon lab session

Key Takeaways

• Networking · Connected with GPU programmers, researchers, and EuroHPC teams.
• Learning new tools · From CUDA basics to advanced Nsight workflows.
• Real-world problem solving · Tackled challenges grounded in scientific research, ML, and data analysis.

Final Thoughts

Reflecting on these four days, I feel a renewed enthusiasm for GPU computing and HPC. The skills I gained, combined with the people I met, made this hackathon an unforgettable experience. I’m looking forward to applying what I learned in future projects and sharing insights with the community.

Links

• EPICURE HPC Event Page
• Event Recap Video
• GitHub Repository of Sample Codes

Keywords · GPU Computing · CUDA · High-Performance Computing · EPICURE · CINECA · Hackathon