Building skills and confidence: Ashton South’s student employment experience at OSC

For many students, internships serve as a catalyst for gaining real-world experience. For Ashton South, a computer science and engineering major at The Ohio State University, her role at the Ohio Supercomputer Center (OSC) has provided her with the chance to develop valuable skills and work on significant projects in the field of high performance computing (HPC). 

South initially joined OSC as a student administrative assistant, working on office tasks such as organizing files, communication and ordering. Although she enjoyed this role, she soon discovered a new opportunity more closely aligned with her major—software development. 

“I became aware of the software position while I was still an administrative assistant,” she said. “While I was happy in that position, this other one was great for my major. I’m a computer science and engineering major, so it is very fitting for the work I do.” 

South had limited exposure to HPC before starting her role at OSC.  

“This is my first experience ever getting to use it,” she said. “I’ve heard about it before and found it interesting, but it is very different to actually use these resources.” 

Her role primarily involves working on OSC’s Open OnDemand platform, which makes HPC resources accessible through a web-based interface. Currently, it is being used in over 1,600 organizations and research facilities worldwide.  

“I’ve been doing a lot of work on fixing bugs and adding new features,” she said. “One of the first things I did was redesign the system status page, which shows what resources are in use. It helps researchers see whether their job will run soon.” 

Alan Chalker, director of strategic programs at OSC and South’s supervisor, emphasized her growing role within the team.  

“Ashton is now a key part of our Open OnDemand development team,” Chalker said. “She regularly attends team meetings and interacts with the rest of the team via Slack and GitHub issues.” 

What sets South’s experience apart from typical student positions is the level of responsibility she has been given.  

“Not many student employees get to work on tangible projects like this,” South said. “I have worked side by side with full-time employees on code. I have also done work on cameras for the new supercomputer getting installed, and on other projects where I am very much part of the team.” 

The above video is an example of South's work using timelapse cameras to capture the installation of OSC's newest cluster, Cardinal, which will launch in late 2024.

This hands-on experience has given South the confidence to apply her skills beyond the classroom. 

“I have gained very early experience working on tangible projects, which is something I do not think many people get,” South said. “It’s something I’m very thankful to be able to talk about in interviews and carry into future work.” 

South believes her student position at OSC has been a key step toward her long-term career goals. 

“My dream job is honestly pretty connected to this—using technology and software to improve the world,” South said. “I want to have the capability to use software to help researchers, and I like that I’m already getting that experience now.” 

Chalker noted the importance of bringing students like South into roles at OSC.  

“We employ students because it’s important to OSC to help facilitate a pipeline of future developers and researchers that will be involved with the Open OnDemand project and supercomputing in general,” Chalker said. 

When reflecting on her time at OSC, South is grateful for the opportunity and encourages others to seek out similar experiences.  

“It has been amazing,” South said. “I’ve learned a lot from everybody who has helped me in this position, and I feel like I’ve grown a lot as a person and professionally. I’m very happy to have been in both of my positions here.” 

Written by Lexi Biasi