© 2008 Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center Tour Your Future The Girls, Math & Science Partnership...

© 2008 Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center

Tour Your FutureThe Girls, Math & Science Partnership

Pittsburgh Supercomputing CenterComputer Network Engineering

Kathy Benninger

11 October 2008


What do engineers do?


What do engineers do?

• Problem solving!• Engineers create devices, systems,

structures, or processes to solve real-world problems efficiently and economically

• Use scientific, physical, and mathematical principles


Types of Engineers

• Electrical• Mechanical• Chemical• Biomedical• Civil• Aerospace• Nuclear• Industrial


What do you think electrical engineers do?


Electrical Engineers do…

• Consumer electronics• Power systems• Communications systems• Computer

– Processors– Mass Storage– Networks

• Hardware: Switches, routers, interface cards• Software: Network protocol design


With further study,Electrical Engineers also do…

• Medicine• Law• Business• Management• Public policy

An engineering education can

open many career paths


Education for Engineering – High School

• Math– Algebra, geometry, trigonometry, calculus

• Science– Chemistry– Physics– Biology

• Computing• Language and communication skills


Education for Engineering – University

• First two years– Math and science courses– Liberal arts and electives

• Last two years– Engineering specialty courses– Labs and hands-on experimentation– Group projects

• Other useful coursesTechnical writing, economics, statistics


My Path to Engineering

• Enjoyed math and science classes• Wanted to understand “How does it work?”• Took all the available math and science

courses in high school• Electrical Engineering major at Carnegie

Mellon University• Four-year degree, BSEE


With that BSEE degree, I’ve done:

• Circuit design and prototyping• Programming• Video systems• Computer cabling design for new building• Computer mass storage systems• Computer networks


Network Engineering at the PSC

• Group of 12 people• 3ROX GigaPoP: design, build, and support

networks for Pittsburgh Public Schools, PSC, CMU, Pitt, Penn State, WVU, and other regional research and educational organizations

• Research: design and test new protocols and tools for maximizing network performance

• Consulting: working with users to help them optimize their usage of the network


Day to day

• Two or three primary projects at a time– University research group wants to install some

experimental equipment– Performance testing of a proposed network

configuration

• Answer questions– E.g. “What’s the best network adapter?”

• Communication– Email, IM, meetings, conference calls


What I Like About My Career in Engineering

• Always something new to learn• Work environment

– Intellectually challenging– Flexible– People– Collaborative

• Professional recognition• Financially rewarding


Intro to computer networking

• How is a network built?• How does information move through a

network?• What are the components in a network?


How is the Internet built?

• Your PC: “wired” or “wireless” connection• Home: Local Area Network (LAN)• City: Metropolitan Area Network (MAN)• Regional/National: Wide Area Network (WAN)• International


Network Example

60 Milliseconds in the life of a packet…

(1 Millisecond = 1/1000th of a second)


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Tour 3ROX GigaPoP

• Network components• Servers• Cabling• Test equipment


Questions?

© 2008 Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center Tour Your Future The Girls, Math & Science Partnership...

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