Luxembourg looks suspiciously like my room…
Hi there! My name’s Matt and I’m getting involved in the work-from-home Summer of High Performance Computing (SoHPC) internship programme this year. I live near Cambridge, England and I’m going into my final year, studying Physics at The University of Manchester. During the SoHPC, I’ll be working on project 21 – Submarine Computational Fluid Dynamics.

Computational physics problems to me are like LEDs to a moth. This might lead you to assume that I can’t wait to get stuck into the internship… and you’d be right! At the end of my first Fluid Mechanics course I learnt how to calculate the lift on an aerofoil (plane wing) and it truly felt like magic. Since then, I’ve been chasing the same feeling in all of my studies. Excited is an understatement. Now I just can’t wait to start on the submarines!
Outside of my academic interests, I’m an avid rock climber (every wall is just another problem to solve!) and I love to run around the countryside. I’ll give pretty much anything that involves going out in nature and being a bit outdoorsy a go! I’ve also started learning guitar recently so I can at least feel productive over lockdown. I like to think I’m doing okay, but anyone in earshot may disagree.

Having completed the online training week, I’ve been blown away by how well each session’s been organised – especially considering current events. Parallel programming’s brand new to me, so I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a tad nervous about jumping straight into programming on the Vienna Scientific Cluster (VSC). We were introduced to a few different types of parallel programming, and while OpenMP is a standout favourite currently, it is still all to play for in the upcoming weeks! It’s also provided a fantastic opportunity to meet the like-minded individuals that I’ll be working alongside, and subdue some of the imposter syndrome that I think was felt unanimously before we began.

Now… if you’re wondering why this year’s SoHPC is a work-from-home project, there truly is no hope for you. Nevertheless, I am delighted that the guys at PRACE were able to keep the programme running – even if it means missing out on a nice trip abroad. To make up for it, I’m thinking of bringing a bit of Luxembourg to me. If you have any suggestions let me know!
Thanks for reading! Any questions, please let me know in the comments below.
Radical physics journey dude
Extremely radical dude
Glad you enjoyed it too!
Thanks Mitch, I think so too!
A great opportunity. Good stuff! Enjoy.
It really is, thank you Tim!
Sounds very exciting, Matt! All the best for your internship xx (and thanks for the educational video!)
Thanks for reading!
What a great education opportunity. Best of luck
Thank you!
Nice work Matt!
Thanks!
Good luck!
Thank you!
That really had the wow factor, so much to learn about submarines… thank you for posting!
Glad you enjoyed it! For me and you both haha
Awesome!
Thanks!
Sounds interesting man all the best
Thanks!
Well done Matt good luck with the rest of your studies
Cheers Rob, hopefully it goes well!
Really interesting! Good luck
Thanks Mike!
Great work – Good luck!
Thanks Paul!
Great blog Matt, sounds like a fantastic opportunity.
I’ll get you Dad to explain parallel programming next time I have a chat with him 😀
Great video on submarines and keep going with the guitar 👍
Thank you, it really is! Haha hopefully some of it rubs off on him. Will do!
Hope things keep going upwards for you
Thanks Neville!
Great work Matt!
Cheers Ben!
Nice piece Matt. Enjoy
Thank you Muke!
Sounds interesting, Good luck with everything!
Cheers Taylor, going well so far!
Great work!
Thanks Wynne!
If you’re turning to guitar for a pastime, just think what Jimmy Hendrix would have done to Fluid Dynamics had he taken that up as a hobby!
Well done, such a complex subject. Never did get my head Fully around CFD myself, but give me a Monte Carlo and I was there. Good luck for the future, you’ll smash it.
Hahaha but then we’d never have all his music! It’s a tricky one but I’m trying and seems like I might be getting somewhere. Thank you!