Talk:SwarmFest:2008

SwarmFest 2008

SwarmFest 2008 is coming very soon! Here is everything you need to know.

Vital information

• Dates: May 11, 2008: Opening Reception. May 12-13, 2008: Scientific Sessions.
• Location: Northwestern Memorial Hospital, Chicago, Illinois (adjacent to Chicago's Magnificent Mile and "Loop" cultural and business centers and to Lake Michigan beaches).
• Host: Dr. Gary An, Department of Surgery, Northwestern University School of Medicine.
• Abstract submittal deadline: April 4, 2008
• Registration deadline: May 1, 2008
• Housing: A block of discounted rooms is reserved at the Inn of Chicago, 162 E Ohio St, Chicago, IL 60611.

Conference themes and featured speakers

SwarmFest 2008 will include two special emphasis sessions on areas that have the potential for explosive growth in the ABM community.

The first is in the area of Systems Biology. The growing application of ABM techniques to the problems of cellular metabolism and control, gene regulation, and their effectson the pathophysiology of disease offers this field a powerful paradigm for looking at these issues from a true system-wide approach. Invited speakers in Systems Biology include:

• Gordon Broderick of the Department of Medicine, University of Alberta. Dr. Broderick was the lead developer of the CyberCell Project, and is a pioneer in the application of agent-based modeling in the characterization of intracellular signalling and membrane dynamics.
• Carlo Maley of the Wistar Institute at the University of Pennsylvania (Tentative). The Maley laboratory is applying evolutionary and ecological theory to neoplastic progression and cancer therapy in order to modulate the evolution of neoplastic cells and thereby prevent cancer and its relapse.

The second special session will address applying the advances in High Performance Computing to the current computational constraints on truly mega-scale ABMs. We are inviting researchers from several organizations to present their work on low-cost, high-performance platforms for ABMs. These speakers are expected to include:

• Roshan D'Souza of Michigan Tech. Dr. D'Souza is pioneering the development of software for agent-based modeling on graphics processor units, which feature low cost, high processor performance, and high memory bandwidth.
• Members of IBM's Blue Gene Development Team. Blue Gene P is one of the most advanced and powerful supercomputers in the world, and the speakers will discuss some the specific issues its distributed architecture raises with respect to ABM model design and implementation.

Call for papers

The Call for Papers describes the kinds of presentations that are suitable for SwarmFest and how to submit an abstract to reserve a presentation slot. The preliminary call for papers (PDF) can be downloaded here.

Conference registration

Our host has worked very hard to keep the conference cost low. The registration fee is $250 for non-students and $100 for students (through graduate school). Registration includes an opening reception, all conference sessions, coffee and refreshment breaks, lunch for both days and an evening banquet on May 12.

To register for SwarmFest, please [http://www.northwesternevents.com/profile/form/index.cfm?PKformID=0x1977e352 click here to go to our on-line registration system].

Hotel reservations

Lodging for SwarmFest will be at: Inn of Chicago - Magnificent Mile, 162 E Ohio St., Chicago, IL 60611. The hotel is a short 5 minute walk to the conference site at Northwestern Memorial Hospital.

The special rates for SwarmFest are $129/night for one bed, $149/night for two beds. This rate applies only for the nights of May 11 and May 12. Conference attendees are of course welcome to arrange their own alternative accommodations.

To reserve accommodation at the conference hotel, you must contact the hotel directly---our conference registration site does not include the hotel reservations. Hotel reservations must be made by calling the hotel toll-free at 1-800-557-2378 and ask for the Swarmfest rate. International registrants can use the hotel's email; see their contact site. If you have any difficulty with this process please send an email to the organizers at: swarmfest2008@swarm.org.

Schedule and deadlines

Here is a summary of important dates.

• April 4: Abstracts are due.
• April 10: Notification of Decisions.
• May 1: Deadline for Registration.
• May 11: Opening social. 7 PM at Timothy O'Tooles at 622 N Fairbanks Ct.
• May 12-13: Technical sessions 8 AM - 5 PM.
• May 12: Conference banquet. 7 PM at The Grand Lux Cafe at 600 N Michigan Ave. The banquet will be sponsored by IBM.

Additional information

If you have any questions or enquiries about SwarmFest, you can send them in an email to the organizers at: swarmfest2008@swarm.org.